Key Senate Democrat Starts Probe on Trump’s EEOC, NLRB Firings

President Donald Trump’s purging of key members of two independent panels governing labor and workplace anti-bais laws prompted a probe from the ranking member of the Senate’s labor and health panel.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the Democratic leader of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, in letters Friday told leaders of the National Labor Relations Board and the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that he’s “seeking answers about these deeply concerning firings” and to hand over “copies of all communication between the President’s Transition Team or Admission staff” and agency employees since November.

Sanders’s requests come amid continued fallout over Trump’s unprecedented terminations of Democratic NLRB Member Gwynne Wilcox and General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo late Jan. 27. The next day, he sacked Democratic EEOC Chair Charlotte Burrows, Commissioner Jocelyn Samuels, and General Counsel Karla Gilbride.

The firings of the general counsels were expected, as federal appeals courts have affirmed the president’s authority to do so.

But Trump’s termination of the other members marked an unprecedented test of presidential powers, conflicting with 90 years of US Supreme Court precedent that protects independent agency leaders, administrative law scholars said. Federal labor law explicitly limits the removal of board members in instances of neglect or malfeasance.

Quorum Challenges

The dismissals resulted in the agencies lacking a necessary quorum of three members, preventing them from taking action and fulfilling their statutory responsibilities until the vacancies are filled. Legal scholars warn that the terminations risk undermining the legitimacy of future agency decisions.

Wilcox, the first Black woman to serve on the agency’s five-member board, plans to sue.

Sanders echoed Wilcox’s argument that her termination “was also patently illegal. Board members serve five-year terms and may only be removed after ‘notice and hearing, for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.”

There’s no evidence that she engaged in such conduct or even received notice and a hearing as required, he said in a letter to NLRB Chair Marvin E. Kaplan and Acting General Counsel Jessica Rutter.

“As you know, the NLRB is tasked with enforcing the constitutional right of workers to organize. At a time when corporate greed is at an all-time high, the NLRB’s role in protecting workers is more important than ever,” it said.

Sanders similarly told EEOC Acting Chair Andrea Lucas in a letter that Burrows and Samuels’ firings left the EEOC “unable to engage in substantive policy work, issue charges of discrimination, or file lawsuits to remedy discriminatory practices by employers.”

“These firings are unprecedented: in its 60-year history, no commissioner has ever been fired before the end of their five-year term,” he said.

The remaining time on Burrows and Samuels’ terms would have allowed Democrats to maintain a majority until 2026.

Burrows, who’s considering legal options, tapped lawyers Lisa Banks and Debra Katz, founding partners of Washington boutique Katz Banks Kumin.

Samuels is also considering taking legal action.

In a Jan. 28 announcement, Lucas, the agency’s sole Republican, acknowledged that the terminations kneecap the agency’s powers. But the EEOC will remove options for nonbinary gender markers from bias charge intakes to align with Trump’s recent executive order, which recognizes only two sexes, she said.

Lucas also called for rescinding agency guidance on workplace gender identity protections but noted that she needs a commission vote to do so.