I know Congress can control the pursestrings of the NLRB, but I’m not sure they have to power to dictate it in or out of existence. Someone can correct me if I’m wrong.
Congress legislates ..writes the laws. If they defund the Labor Board they will be demolished or at best a weak organization. Look what happened to Gov Walker via the unions...Newt gave such a simple solution...HELLO congress..cut their money!
Well, technically congress could dictate pretty much anything government related out of existence, all they have to do is pass a bill abolishing the agency. Of course the problem with that is that the president would never sign it into law and the Congress doesn't have the votes to override a veto. What they can do is defund the agency by simply providing no funds for it in the budget bills. Essentially, provide it with no money for staff, supplies, office space, no money to conduct investigations or issue regulations etc. While the agency may still exist on paper and could be refunded in the future, for all intents and purposes its dead.
Eliminating it is an active process, requiring legislation to be passed, and gotten through the Senate and signed by the President (or overriding a veto in both chambers).
Defunding it is passive -- all they have to do is to not provide it with funds in the budget. Without a budget, there's nothing the NLRB can actually do, as it will have no access to any government facilities, equipment, or funds.
Fact is, even the Senate should put away their partisan attitudes and side with the House on this one -- allowing Obama to get away with this for a short-term political gain sets a really, really bad precedent even the Senate Dems don't want to be on the bad side of.