On July 14, 2021, during the presidency of Joe Biden, the U.S. Senate confirmed Jocelyn Samuels of Maryland to be a Member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for a term ending on July 1, 2026. On September 6, 2023, the U.S. Senate confirmed Gwynne Wilcox to be a Member of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for the term of five years expiring August 27, 2028. On November 8, 2023, the U.S. Senate confirmed Charlotte Burrows of the District of Columbia to be a Member of the EEOC for a term expiring July 1, 2028.

On January 28, 2025, the leader of the fascist regime, Donald Trump, fired all three of them along with the general counsels at the EEOC and NLRB.

“These were far-left appointees with radical records of upending long-standing labor law, and they have no place as senior appointees in the Trump administration, which was given a mandate by the American people to undo the radical policies they created,” a White House official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the administration.

Firing the general counsels is a partisan power move, but not unprecedented and within the scope of presidential powers. The commission members are another matter:

Yet dismissing members of independent commissions represents a dramatic break from Supreme Court precedent dating to 1935, which holds that the president cannot remove members of independent agencies such as the EEOC except in cases of neglect of duty, malfeasance or inefficiency.

This legal interpretation follows the law creating the NLRB, which states “any member of the Board may be removed by the President, upon notice and hearing, for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office, but for no other cause.” The law creating the EEOC states that “all members of the Commission shall continue to serve until their successors are appointed and qualified.”

There was no notice and hearing, or even expressed allegations of neglect of duty, inefficiency or malfeasance, for any of these three firings. Moreover, their dismissals created immediate vacancies that prevent either the EEOC or the NLRB from having a quorum, so they are effectively shut down.

In the case of the EEOC, this is consistent with the regime’s overall pattern of attacking rules against hiring and workplace discrimination which I detailed on Tuesday. With respect to the NLRB, the goal is to completely destroy it.

The NLRB — which oversees unionization votes by workers and adjudicates allegations of illegal union busting — has faced a flurry of legal challenges to its constitutionality, brought last year by SpaceX, Amazon and other high-profile companies, emboldened by a conservative Supreme Court. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.) Those cases are slowly working through the federal court system. But legal experts say Wilcox’s firing could propel the issue to the high court more quickly.

“The Trump administration along with the architects of Project 2025 are aiming to do away with the National Labor Relations Act,” said Seth Goldstein, a labor lawyer who has represented Amazon and Trader Joe’s workers. He referred to the 1935 law that established the NLRB and modern union rights. “They want to end worker rights and return us to the Gilded Age,” he said.

But whatever the larger goals may be, this specific action was illegal. It will be challenged in court, but the conservative Supreme Court cannot be relied upon to uphold the law.

And this wasn’t even the boldest move the fascist regime made on Day Nine.

President Donald Trump’s administration is offering federal workers the chance to take a “deferred resignation,” which would mean they agree now to resign but get paid through September.

A senior administration official told NBC News that they expect 5%-10% of the federal workforce to quit, which, they estimate, could lead to around $100 billion in savings.

Every federal worker (there are 2.3 million civilian employees), with military, intelligence and post office exceptions, has until February 6 to accept or reject an offer to resign. If they reject the offer, the regime advises them that “we cannot give you full assurance regarding the certainty of your position or agency.” If they accept it, they can get paid for six months without having to work.

This is clearly the brainchild of Elon Musk, although it’s consistent with the goals of incoming OMB chairman Russ Vought.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who is now in charge of Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency, famously sent a similar email to employees shortly after he took over Twitter, which he renamed X, asking them to opt in to keep working at the company.

White House officials wouldn’t say whether he was involved in the current effort. But the subject line of the email that will be sent to federal workers is: “Fork in the Road.”

It’s the same subject line Musk used in that email to Twitter employees. And Musk now has a post pinned on X of an art piece he commissioned called “A Fork in the Road.”

The goal isn’t just to shrink the size of government but to make it loyal to the regime.

In response, American Federation of Government Employees union President Everett Kelley said it should not be viewed as voluntary buyouts, but pressuring workers not considered loyal to the new administration to vacate their jobs.

“Purging the federal government of dedicated career federal employees will have vast, unintended consequences that will cause chaos for the Americans who depend on a functioning federal government,” Kelley said in a statement. “Between the flurry of anti-worker executive orders and policies, it is clear that the Trump administration’s goal is to turn the federal government into a toxic environment where workers cannot stay even if they want to.”

This was all telegraphed during the campaign, not that the electorate understood the threat. Having said that, it’s not at all clear the Trump has the authority to make this offer or make good on its promises. Federal buyouts are usually capped at $25,000, and Congress hasn’t appropriated money for this purpose. It’s no wonder “the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents about 150,000 federal workers, warned its members that ‘the email is designed to entice or scare you into resigning’ and said ‘we strongly urge you not to resign in response.'”

These things will continue until the fascist regime is defeated.