President Trump fired acting chair of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Democrat Gwynne Wilcox late Monday night, she told Axios. He also fired the general counsel of the labor board, Jennifer Abruzzo, a strong advocate for unionization.

The big picture: Together the dismissals signal a broad purge at the nation’s labor regulator, which had been an exceptionally strong ally to workers and unions over the past four years.

Wilcox was the NLRB’s first Black woman board member.

Where it stands: Under the national labor law, board members can only be fired for neglect of duty or malfeasance. Wilcox had served as acting board chair just for a few days at the end of the Biden administration — and it had been expected she would be replaced and resume her duties as board member.