Donald Trump is forcing out top leaders of the US labor board, ushering in a swift reboot of workplace law enforcement while testing the limits of presidential authority.
Jennifer Abruzzo, the general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, said she was fired via email late on Monday. Gwynne Wilcox, who was one of the labor board’s two Democratic members, said she was ousted, too.
“As the first Black woman board member, I brought a unique perspective that I believe will be lost upon my unprecedented and illegal removal,” Wilcox said in a statement. “I will be pursuing all legal avenues to challenge my removal, which violates long-standing Supreme Court precedent.”
The NLRB is the agency responsible for enforcing most private sector US employees’ right to unionize or take collective action to improve their working conditions.
Wilcox was the NLRB’s chair for the final days of the Biden Administration and was slated to remain a labor board member until 2028. NLRB members have authority to issue regulations and rule on appeals in the cases the general counsel prosecutes. Because the US Supreme Court has ruled that the labor board needs a quorum of at least three members to be able to legally issue decisions, Wilcox’s firing leaves it unable to make rulings until a vacancy is filled.
Unlike the general counsel, federal law states that NLRB members can only be fired for neglect or malfeasance, and so terminating one could spur legal challenges to future agency rulings....
Housing Department clarifies online comments about interim housing units In response to netizens' comments on a social media platform about victims of the fire incident in Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po...