Senate Democrats have scheduled a Feb. 8 procedural vote on a National Labor Relations Board nominee, providing the first test of whether the chamber’s new 41-member Republican caucus can sustain a filibuster.

The vote on a motion to limit debate on the nomination of Craig Becker, a union lawyer strongly opposed by business groups, will be one of the first cast by Scott P. Brown, R-Mass., who was sworn in Feb. 4.

Asked at his maiden news conference as a senator whether he would vote with fellow Republicans to sustain a filibuster, Brown said, "I'm going to look at everybody's qualifications and make my own decision."

The Republican caucus has signaled it intends to unite against Becker.

Two Republicans on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee — Michael B. Enzi of Wyoming and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who both voted for Becker's nomination when it was first considered in October — switched their votes when the committee voted along party lines to approve the nomination a second time on Feb. 4.

President Obama resubmitted Becker's nomination after the Senate failed to act on it last session.

A version of this story first appeared in CQ.