Real World Impact: The president’s recent discharge of National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) Member Gwynne Wilcox means the Board currently lacks a quorum; thus, pending unfair labor practice (ULP) cases and representation proceedings may be delayed until the Board is fully functioning. The termination of General Counsel (GC) Jennifer Abruzzo likely will result in the rollback of many of Abruzzo’s more labor-friendly initiatives as the Board moves toward the more employer-focused perspective seen under the first Trump administration.
Introduction: During the late hours of January 27, 2025, President Trump fired NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo and Board Member Gwynne Wilcox. While Abruzzo’s dismissal was expected, the termination of Member Wilcox’s term was not. And this move has raised significant procedural and policy questions for the Board in the near-term and beyond.
Background: Both Abruzzo and Wilcox were central figures at the Board under the Biden Administration. Abruzzo, who was viewed as President Biden’s most progressive appointment, served as General Counsel – the top federal labor prosecutor with broad discretion over labor law violations in the private sector. Deputy General Counsel Jessica Rutter will serve as Acting GC pending further action from the White House. Wilcox was confirmed in September 2023 to a second term set to expire in 2028. She briefly served as the Board’s chair during the final days of the Biden Administration.
President Trump had long been expected to fire Abruzzo, repeating President Biden’s termination of Trump’s first-term General Counsel, Peter Robb. But Trump’s decision to remove Wilcox is unprecedented. Since the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) was passed in 1935, the president has never terminated a member of the Board. However, federal appeals courts have almost uniformly affirmed the president’s authority to remove the NLRB’s General Counsel.
Potential Impact: In light of these terminations, there will be several impacts. First and foremost, the Board will now be comprised of only two members - Chair Marvin Kaplan (Republican) and Member David Prouty (Democrat). This is significant because the Board requires a three-member quorum to issue decisions. Without a quorum, the Board cannot adjudicate cases and, therefore, set new legal precedent. This impasse will likely halt decision-making unless and until new Board members are appointed and confirmed by the Senate. In addition, it is foreseeable that Wilcox’s termination will lead to legal challenges, as the question of whether (and to what extent) the president has at-will removal authority over quasi-agency boards like the NLRB is subject to ongoing legal disputes in federal courts across the country.