Attorneys General Argue the Unlawful Dismissal of NLRB Board Member Undermines the Enforcement of Labor Laws Across the Country
Chicago – Attorney General Kwame Raoul, as part of a coalition of 20 attorneys general, today filed an amicus brief in support of a challenge to President Donald Trump’s unlawful attempt to remove a member of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Raoul and the coalition filed their brief in Wilcox v. Trump, in support of NLRB member Gwynne Wilcox. The coalition argues that if allowed to stand, the attempt would undermine protections for workers and destabilize federal labor law.
“The National Labor Relations Board helps to ensure that workers in Illinois and across the country are afforded the rights they are entitled to under federal law,” Raoul said. “Removing the board’s ability to function creates a regulatory vacuum that would undermine workers’ rights and prevent the NLRB from ensuring stable labor relations. I stand with my fellow attorneys general in asking the court to allow this independent body to continue its crucial work.”
The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), the landmark federal law signed in 1935, which guarantees American workers the right to unionize, bargain for better wages and working conditions, and engage in activities like strikes and pickets. The NLRB investigates violations of labor laws, adjudicates labor disputes and certifies the results of union elections.
On Jan. 27, 2025, President Trump attempted to dismiss Wilcox from the NLRB in the middle of her five-year term. Doing so was a violation of a federal statute that allows the president to remove board members only for specific reasons, such as inefficiency in office. The dismissal would leave just two members remaining on the five-member board, which cannot act without a quorum of at least three members.
In the brief, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Raoul and the coalition describe the serious harms that this removal would cause. Labor unions create significant benefits for workers and the broader economy. The attorneys general note in their filing that union employees earn higher wages and receive better benefits than non-union workers. They also point out that labor unions benefit non-union employees, as an increase in private-sector union membership often coincides with an increase in wages for non-union workers. These unions rely on the NLRA’s protections, which the NLRB has primary responsibility for administering. Federal law sometimes preempts states from enacting their own safeguards. By depriving the NLRB of the quorum it needs to act on labor disputes, Wilcox’s dismissal would risk leaving workers unprotected.
Raoul and the attorneys general argue that allowing the president to remove NLRB members at will would undercut the agency’s role as a nonpartisan, expert panel that develops a stable, predictable body of labor law based on its members’ technical expertise. They also point out that the statute that prevents the president from removing NLRB members without cause is constitutional under binding, longstanding U.S. Supreme Court precedent.
The coalition is urging the court to grant Wilcox’s motion for expedited summary judgment and to order the defendants to allow her to continue performing her responsibilities as an NLRB member.
Joining Attorney General Raoul in submitting this brief are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.
