His unlawful purge of the National Labor Relations Board on Monday serves all three goals at once. With these firings, Trump has paralyzed the board, asserted control over its agenda, and engineered a legal showdown over the scope of his constitutional authority.

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.

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.