A federal judge ordered a member of the National Labor Relations Board to be reinstated after she was fired by President Donald Trump. Senior Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled on Thursday that Trump does not have the authority to fire the NLRB board members without cause.

Lawyers for Gwynne Wilcox argued that board members can only be fired ‘for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office’ and only after giving notice and holding a hearing. A federal judge ruled Thursday that President Donald Trump acted illegally when he fired a member of an independent labor agency,

On February 14, 2025, newly appointed National Labor Relations Board Acting General Counsel William Cowen issued a General Counsel

The acting NLRB general counsel talks about the board’s future direction, and concerns remain about DOGE’s access to sensitive labor data.

A federal judge on Thursday reinstated Gwynne Wilcox, a Democratic member of the National Labor Relations Board, and suggested that U.S. President Donald Trump’s attempt to fire her was an example of the Republican testing how much he can exceed his constitutional powers.

The January firings of Wilcox and NLRB general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo were an early test of the Trump administration’s power. Though the law specifies a board member can only be fired for ...

Gwynne Wilcox was the first National Labor Relations Board member ever fired. A judge said Trump does not have the power to fire board members ‘at will.’

NLRB Acting General Counsel William B. Cowan rescinded a number of active General Counsel Memoranda citing an increasing “backlog of cases [grown] to the point where it is no longer sustainable.” Among those rescinded were a pair of memos issued by recently ousted NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo that declare non-compete agreements between employers and workers illegal under the National Labor Relations Act (the “Act”).

The judge, who reinstated Gwynne Wilcox to the National Labor Relations Board, said Trump's "power to remove federal officers and honest civil servants ... is not absolute."

But Trump fired Wilcox and her colleague, Jennifer Abruzzo, in an email around 3 a.m. on Jan. 28. "The president seems intent on pushing the bounds of his office and exercising his power in a ...