President Donald Trump's latest attempt to purge government officials is blatantly illegal, according to experts — and all but certain to trigger a lawsuit.
This week, the president moved to clean house at the National Labor Relations Board, the agency responsible for investigating and adjudicating claims of violations of labor union law in the workplace. In addition to firing general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, a progressive labor watchdog who has protected workers from noncompete agreements and anti-union captive meetings, Trump has also dismissed NLRB board member Gwynne Wilcox, one of two Democratic members at the agency, per Bloomberg News.
The problem is that NLRB members cannot be dismissed at will. Federal law protects them through the duration of their term, except in cases of malfeasance, which the Trump administration has not provided any evidence of. However, this comes as some of Trump's business allies, particularly tech billionaire Elon Musk, have expressed interest in challenging the constitutionality of the protections for the NLRB.
"This is 100% illegal," wrote Slate legal reporter Mark Joseph Stern on Bluesky. "It’s a new escalation in Trump’s battle for absolute control over the administrative state. Federal law explicitly protects Wilcox against termination. That law is constitutional under binding Supreme Court precedent."
Wilcox, for her part, has indicated that she plans to sue over her termination.
“As the first Black woman board member, I brought a unique perspective that I believe will be lost upon my unprecedented and illegal removal,” said Wilcox in a statement. “I will be pursuing all legal avenues to challenge my removal, which violates long-standing Supreme Court precedent.”
This comes after Trump ordered the dismissal of more than a dozen inspectors general, another move that legal experts have broadly warned is illegal.