Trump Fires Biden Labor Board Officials, Setting Up Likely Court Battle

President Donald Trump fired the National Labor Relations Board’s general counsel and one of its board members late Monday, setting up a likely legal battle over presidential power.

Both Jennifer Abruzzo, the general counsel, and Gwynne Wilcox, the board member, were Democrats who took a broad view of workers’ rights under collective-bargaining law. Wilcox’s term as a board member was set to run through August 2028.

A labor board spokesperson confirmed Abruzzo’s removal, while a spokesperson for Wilcox confirmed hers.

Wilcox said in a statement that she believes her unprecedented firing, which was first reported by Bloomberg, violates “long-standing Supreme Court precedent.” 

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“I will be pursuing all legal avenues to challenge my removal,” Wilcox said.

The NLRB oversees union elections and investigates and prosecutes unfair labor practices in the workplace. The independent agency generally pursued worker- and union-friendly policies under President Joe Biden, but it’s quickly swinging in the other direction under Trump.

There is precedent for firing the general counsel, who acts as the agency’s top prosecutor. Former President Joe Biden removed the Trump-appointed general counsel on his first day in office a little over four years ago at the urging of unions. Close observers of the agency fully expected Trump to oust Abruzzo shortly after he arrived at the White House.

President Donald Trump fired National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo on Monday night.
President Donald Trump fired National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo on Monday night. Bloomberg via Getty Images

But under standing precedent, presidents cannot fire members of the agency’s five-member board, like Wilcox, without neglect of duty or malfeasance at play. It was expected Trump might test those boundaries, however, and remove Democrats from the board. 

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Companies like Elon Musk’s SpaceX, facing charges they violated their workers’ rights, have challenged the idea that presidents cannot remove board members at will. The argument is part of their lawsuits aimed at undermining the agency by arguing that the NLRB’s structure is unconstitutional.

The NLRB is supposed to have five board members, with three from the president’s party and two from the opposing party. But the members’ terms are staggered so that they open up periodically, rather than all at once, meaning a Democratic majority can carry into a Republican administration, and vice versa.

There were already two vacancies on the board. So Wilcox’s firing leaves it with just two sitting members: Marvin Kaplan, a Republican, and David Prouty, a Democrat. 

Having just a pair of members leaves the agency without a quorum to decide cases — a gridlock that generally benefits employers over unions, since cases involving union-busting allegations can drag on even longer than normal without resolution. 

Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO labor federation, said in a statement that Wilcox’s firing was “illegal” and would have “immediate consequences” for workers.

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“The President has effectively shut down the National Labor Relations Board’s operations, leaving the workers it defends on their own in the face of union-busting and retaliation,” Shuler said.

Wilcox noted that she was the first Black woman to serve as a member of the board, which was established during the Great Depression.

“I brought a unique perspective that I believe will be lost upon my unprecedented and illegal removal,” she said.

Abruzzo said in a statement through the board that she was proud of the aggressive agenda she pursued.

“There’s no putting that genie back in the bottle,” Abruzzo said. 

She added that if the agency doesn’t fully enforce the law under Trump, “I expect that workers with assistance from their advocates will take matters into their own hands.”