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.

The removal of the National Labor Relations Board’s general counsel had been expected. But the firing of a Democratic member stops it from protecting workers’ rights, for now.

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.

Federal labor law explicitly limits removal of board members to instances of neglect or malfeasance. The termination is among several early moves Trump has made that push at the boundaries of executive authority.

After dismissing 17 independent inspectors general earlier, Trump has fired a half dozen NLRB and EEOC officials in a bid to bring the agencies into ideological alignment.