Project 2025 Blueprint Would Destroy NLRB Quorum — Workers Could Lose the Right to Organize

The National Labor Relations Board is supposed to be an independent agency, insulated from White House politics so that the law protecting workers' right to unionize isn't simply a plaything for whichever president is in power. In January 2025, Trump fired two NLRB members without cause, a direct attack on that independence — a move forecast by Project 2025's call to 'defang the agency by any means necessary.' The result: the board has lost its quorum and can't issue decisions in union elections, certification disputes, or retaliation cases. That means an employer who illegally fires a worker for organizing can't be held accountable until the board is reconstituted — if it ever is. This isn't abstract. Every day without a functioning NLRB is a green light for union-busting.

The administration is also arguing in court — via the NLRB's own general counsel, no less — that the board's structure is unconstitutional, a position that, if accepted, would gut the entire National Labor Relations Act. The fight now is in the courts, where civil rights and labor groups are trying to force the administration to respect the Humphrey's Executor precedent. But the message is already clear: if you're a worker trying to organize, don't expect the federal government to have your back. The only remedy is worker-led solidarity — pre-majority unionism, card-check drives, and community-based bargaining — tactics that labor organizers have been preparing for precisely this moment.