President Donald Trump removed multiple leaders from both the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and National Labor Relations Board Monday night.

Charlotte Burrows, former EEOC chairwoman, and Jocelyn Samuels, a former EEOC commissioner, were both fired from their leadership roles at the agency, Federal News Network has learned.

Burrows, who was first appointed as an EEOC commissioner in 2015, had recently been confirmed to a third term as chairwoman initially slated to last until July 2028. Samuels was appointed to her position in 2020, and her current term was expected to last until July 2026.

“Removing me, along with Commissioner Samuels, well before the expiration of our terms is unprecedented and will undermine the efforts of this independent agency to do the important work of protecting employees from discrimination, supporting employers’ compliance efforts and expanding public awareness and understanding of federal employment laws,” Burrows wrote in a statement Tuesday.

Samuels called Trump’s action a violation of the law and said she is “considering legal options” after her termination Monday night.

“Removing me from my position before the expiration of my congressionally directed term is unprecedented, violates the law and represents a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of the EEOC as an independent agency — one that is not controlled by a single cabinet secretary but operates as a multi-member body whose varying views are baked into the commission’s design,” Samuels wrote in a statement.

The dismissals follow many other terminations from Trump over the last several days. Over the weekend, Trump fired 17 agencies’ inspectors general. More than a dozen employees at the Justice Department who worked on Trump’s criminal prosecutions have also been dismissed.

“It is the belief of this White House that the president was within his executive authority to do that — he is the executive of the executive branch and therefore he has the power to fire anyone within the executive branch that he wishes to,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters during a press conference Tuesday.

The White House did not immediately respond to Federal News Network’s request for further comment.

In her statement, Samuels said the removal of EEOC commissioners leave the agency without a quorum, “which hobbles the agency’s ability to protect workers from unlawful discrimination.”

“I deeply regret this administration’s short-sighted and unprecedented decision to remove me from a position to which I remain committed,” Samuels wrote.

In the statement, Samuels also said the White House criticized her views on diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility initiatives, which have been a major target of the Trump administration.

“Employers must be proactive about identifying and eliminating barriers that may unlawfully limit opportunities for workers based on protected characteristics,” Samuels wrote. “That is what DEIA initiatives intend and encompass, and they protect all people on the basis of race, sex, gender, religious belief and other characteristics.”

The EEOC did not immediately respond to Federal News Network’s request for comment.

“It has been a tremendous honor to serve as a commissioner and as the EEOC’s chair, and to work with my fellow commissioners, our staff and the EEOC’s dedicated and talented career professionals,” Burrows wrote.

Trump additionally fired two leaders at the National Labor Relations Board this week. NLRB Board Member Gwynne Wilcox and General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo were both terminated from their roles, according to a press release Tuesday.

“It’s been the greatest honor and privilege to be general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board and to work alongside such talented and dedicated federal employees,” Abruzzo wrote in a statement Tuesday. “If the agency does not fully effectuate its congressional mandate in the future as we did during my tenure, I expect that workers with assistance from their advocates will take matters into their own hands in order to get well-deserved dignity and respect in the workplace, as well as a fair share of the significant value they add to their employer’s operations.”

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