President Trump has fired the lone Democrat on the National Labor Relations Board, leaving the country’s top arbiter of union issues without

President Donald Trump has removed a Democratic member of the U.S. National Labor Relations Board from office, an unprecedented move that will escalate an ongoing legal battle over the scope of the president's powers to control federal agencies.

The removal of the National Labor Relations Board’s general counsel had been expected. But the firing of a Democratic member stops it from protecting workers’ rights, for now.

Federal labor law explicitly limits removal of board members to instances of neglect or malfeasance. The termination is among several early moves Trump has made that push at the boundaries of executive authority.

U.S. President Donald Trump has fired two Democratic officials at the National Labor Relations Board, a major shakeup that will bring hundreds of cases accusing companies of unlawful labor practices to a standstill and paves the way for Republican control of the agency.

The unprecedented moves leave the agencies unable to conduct even routine business and are likely to spur legal challenges.

After dismissing 17 independent inspectors general earlier, Trump fired a half dozen National Labor Relations Board and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission officials in a bid make them ideologically compatible.

President Donald Trump is forcing out top leaders of the U.S. labor board, ushering in a swift reboot of workplace law enforcement while testing the limits of presidential authority.