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.

Jennifer Abruzzo was removed as general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board. She was widely seen as having taken an aggressive approach in enforcing workers’ rights.

The firings come as a Trump appointee opened an internal review of the department’s decision to charge hundreds of Jan. 6 defendants with felony obstruction offenses.

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.

Democrat Gwynne Wilcox, whose term was supposed to run through August 2028, said she believes her firing violates Supreme Court precedent.

The norm-shattering move is consistent with the President’s determination to purge the government of workers his administration perceives as disloyal.