It is illegal for a president to remove a board member unless there is evidence of negligence of duty or malfeasance. Wilcox, whose term expires in 2028, said she would fight back against Trump’s firing.

“I believe that I should still be able to be a board member and contribute to this country,” Wilcox said in a statement to Axios. “I will be pursuing all legal avenues to challenge my removal, which violates long-standing Supreme Court precedent.”

The Supreme Court precedent, known as good cause tenure protection, has been affirmed for almost 100 years. In recent years, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that Congress may also protect leaders of agencies such as the NLRB from being fired without just cause.

“It’s been an honor to serve as a Board Member and Chair of the National Labor Relations Board,” Wilcox said. “As the first Black woman Board Member, I brought a unique perspective that I believe will be lost upon my unprecedented and illegal removal. Throughout my time at the NLRB, I’ve worked well with my colleagues and the dedicated career staff who uphold the mission of the Agency.”

In losing Wilcox, the watchdog group lacks the three-person quorum to rule on decisions. The NLRB primarily rules on labor regulations and on appeals in the cases the general counsel takes on that are centered on complaints of unfair labor practice. It consists of at most five members but needs a quorum of three to decide cases.

Trump appointed Marvin Kaplan as the effective chairman of the NLRB on Jan. 20 — just a week before Wilcox’s termination. Kaplan joins David Prouty on the board.

“There was one empty seat leftover after former member John Ring’s term expired, and another empty seat after former Chairman McFerran was not confirmed by the Senate late last year,” a spokesperson for the NLRB said in an email to the Washington Examiner.

As for Abruzzo, Biden was the first to break precedent by firing her predecessor, Trump-appointee Peter Robb.

Trump’s firing of pro-labor Abruzzo and Wilcox is rumored to entice Amazon and SpaceX to challenge the constitutionality of the NLRB at the Supreme Court.

Sharon Block, a former Labor Board member, told Axios that Trump’s firings indicate that unions are no longer protected despite Trump’s pick for labor secretary, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who is considered a pro-labor lawmaker.

“I have never heard anyone suggest that [Wilcox] has engaged in neglect of duty or malfeasance. And she certainly hasn’t been accorded notice and a hearing. So I fail to see how her discharge accords with the law,” Block said. “Workers now have no protection for the right to be in a union.”