His unlawful purge of the National Labor Relations Board on Monday serves all three goals at once. With these firings, Trump has paralyzed the board, asserted control over its agenda, and engineered a legal showdown over the scope of his constitutional authority.

The removal of the National Labor Relations Board’s general counsel had been expected. But the firing of a Democratic member stops it from protecting workers’ rights, for now.

U.S. President Donald Trump has fired two Democratic officials at the National Labor Relations Board, a major shakeup that will bring hundreds of cases accusing companies of unlawful labor practices to a standstill and paves the way for Republican control of the agency.

President Trump fired National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo. In an unprecedented move, he also ousted Democratic board member Gwynne Wilcox, leaving the board with no quorum.

The dismissals target two independent agencies that oversee swaths of U.S. workers, employers and labor unions.

President Donald Trump has removed a Democratic member of the U.S. National Labor Relations Board from office, an unprecedented move that will escalate an ongoing legal battle over the scope of the president's powers to control federal agencies.

Some agency employees who President Donald Trump terminated from their leadership roles Monday night are now “considering legal options.”