President Donald Trump fired 2 Democratic Equal Employment Opportunity Commission members in an extraordinary move that undercuts the Democrats' voting bulk on the board, the pair confirmed in statements Tuesday.

Trump's shooting of EEOC Commissioners Jocelyn Samuels and Charlotte Burrows leaves 2 seats on the five-member civil rights panel to be filled by elections from the brand-new administration.

The president also axed the commission's general counsel, Karla Gilbride, who confirmed her dismissal in a statement posted to LinkedIn on Tuesday night.

The shootings of Samuels and Burrows bypass historical precedent of leaving commissioners in location at the independent company. Their ouster clears a path for the Trump administration to advance its second-term civil liberties law program, which has actually so far targeted diversity, employment equity, and inclusion programs and gender identity protections through executive orders.

Due to staggered terms, the Democrats would have maintained a bulk on the five-member EEOC up until 2026, when Samuels' term was set to expire. Without the Democrats' voting bloc in place, just recently called acting chair, Republican Andrea Lucas, and future Trump appointees can steer the firm's policy and litigation program.

Burrows, the previous chair of the EEOC, Samuels, and Gilbride received word of their shootings from the White House late Monday.

"I am proud of the work my coworkers and I have done to help remove barriers for level playing field for all employees and to promote reasonable and nondiscriminatory workplaces. While I strongly disagree with the President's actions, and will explore all legal alternatives readily available to me, I will continue to do all I can to combat for the rights of American employees and to support the efforts of others who do the same," Burrows stated her declaration, in which she also stated she's working with legal representatives from Katz Banks Kumin LLP.

Trump also ended two other essential authorities from another independent labor-focused company, the National Labor Relations Board. He fired Democratic member Gwynne Wilcox and Biden-era General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo on Monday.

The firings followed Republican-led states have actually pointed out securities commissioners at the EEOC have from being removed as unconstitutional in separate lawsuits challenging the company's office anti-harassment guidance and Pregnant Workers Fairness Act guidelines.

The EEOC is among a number of federal companies facing suits from challengers that argue its management is unconstitutionally secured from being fired at will by the president.

"It has been an honor and an opportunity to serve as an EEOC Commissioner, and I deeply regret this Administration's short-sighted and unprecedented choice to eliminate me from a position to which I stay dedicated. I am considering my legal choices and will continue to promote strenuously for the civil liberties of all employees," Samuels said in a statement.

Gilbride's firing has more precedent in the commission's history. Former President Joe Biden fired Trump-appointed EEOC Chair Sharon Gustafson in 2021 after she declined to step down.

Gilbride stated in her published declaration she is happy of the outcomes the EEOC accomplishes for employees, and is "discouraged by the current executive orders that seem planned to sidetrack federal firms from their daily work of serving the public and rather require them to focus on settling scores with, and erasing traces of, the previous administration."

Only Lucas, who Trump called as acting chair Jan. 20, along with Democratic Commissioner Kalpana Kotagal remain on the civil liberties panel. There is also a vacancy open from a seat left by Keith Sonderling, who Trump just recently named deputy labor secretary.