President Trump ousted the general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board along with one of the board’s Democratic members late Monday, signaling a shift away from the Biden administration’s relatively expansive approach to enforcing workers’ rights. The firings in effect halt the activities of the agency, which is charged with protecting workers’ rights.
Jennifer Abruzzo, the board’s former top attorney, is seen as having taken a more aggressive approach than her predecessors in carrying out the N.L.R.B.’s mandate to enforce private sector employees’ rights to unionize and take collective action. Her firing, confirmed by the agency, had been widely expected: President Joseph R. Biden dismissed the general counsel appointed by Mr. Trump on Inauguration Day in 2021.
But Mr. Trump’s move to fire board member Gwynne Wilcox, a Democrat confirmed by the Senate in September 2023 to a second five-year term, is without modern precedent and could prompt legal challenges.
Ms. Wilcox said she learned she had been fired in an email from the White House at 10:38 p.m. addressed to her and Ms. Abruzzo. “We were expecting that she would not be retained,” Ms. Wilcox said in an interview Tuesday morning, citing Mr. Biden’s move in 2021. “I didn’t expect to be terminated. But I’m no fool, knowing that the world had changed drastically in the past week.”
Ms. Wilcox said she planned to challenge her removal. “Since this is unprecedented, and I believe illegal, I want to see what my options are,” she said.
The board now has just two members — a Republican and a Democrat — with three vacant seats for Mr. Trump to fill. Under federal law, the board cannot act without a minimum of three members.
“Right now, there’s no protection for the right to collectively bargain, to be in a union, in this country,” said Sharon Block, a professor at Harvard Law School and a former member of the N.L.R.B. “This is a really serious situation.”
Presidents have traditionally left labor board members to serve out their terms, which could mean effective Democratic control of the board until at least August 2026. But several experts had predicted that Mr. Trump would move to install a Republican majority shortly after taking office, challenging a generally cited legal standard if necessary.
The agency said that Jessica Rutter, the N.L.R.B.’s deputy general counsel, is serving as acting general counsel.
Ms. Abruzzo, who had served as the agency’s lead prosecutor since July 2021, drew backlash for scrutinizing noncompete agreements, banning mandatory anti-union meetings and raising pressure on companies to bargain with unionized employees, among other actions in support of workers.
In a statement announcing her departure, Ms. Abruzzo lauded the agency’s efforts under the Biden administration to empower workers to collectively seek improved wages, benefits and working conditions. Under her leadership, the N.L.R.B. prosecuted complaints against companies including Starbucks, Amazon and Tesla.
“There’s no putting that genie back in the bottle,” Ms. Abruzzo said. “If the agency does not fully effectuate its congressional mandate in the future as we did during my tenure, I expect that workers with assistance from their advocates will take matters into their own hands in order to get well-deserved dignity and respect in the workplace.”
Labor law experts had widely expected President Trump to fire Ms. Abruzzo, given his appointment of comparatively business-friendly officials during his first term in the White House. Mr. Biden ousted Peter Robb, a lawyer who served as general counsel of the N.L.R.B. during President Trump’s first term, shortly after his inauguration in 2021.
Mr. Trump removed Ms. Abruzzo only hours after the first high-profile union election of the second Trump administration. Workers at Whole Foods Market in Philadelphia voted on Monday to form the first union in the Amazon-owned grocery chain.
Amazon found itself in the cross hairs of the N.L.R.B. multiple times during Ms. Abruzzo’s tenure. The e-commerce giant was hit with a formal complaint finding that it is a joint employer of subcontracted delivery drivers, an issue that is likely to carry into the second Trump administration.
The N.L.R.B. declined to say when President Trump would appoint a general counsel or fill the labor board. His move comes amid a broader purge of federal officials since his inauguration last week.
