5 hours ago
1
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The acting main of the country’s apical bureau for enforcing idiosyncratic rights volition look questions astatine a Senate committee proceeding Wednesday implicit her efforts to prioritize anti-diversity investigations portion sidelining definite radical and sex favoritism cases and quashing protections for transgender workers.
Andrea Lucas, who was archetypal appointed to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission successful 2020 and elevated to acting main successful January, is 1 of 4 Labor Department nominees to look earlier the Senate Committee connected Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Her information to service different five-year word arsenic an EEOC commissioner requires Senate confirmation, though whether she stays connected arsenic main volition beryllium up to President Donald Trump.
Lucas, an outspoken professional of diversity, equity and inclusion practices and promoter of the thought that determination are lone 2 immutable sexes, has moved swiftly to enact Trump's civilian rights docket aft helium abruptly fired 2 of the EEOC's Democratic commissioners earlier the extremity of their five-year terms, an unprecedented determination successful the agency's 60-year past that has been challenged successful a lawsuit.
Lucas is prioritizing idiosyncratic rights that conservatives reason person been ignored by the EEOC. That includes investigating institution DEI practices, defending the rights of women to same-sex spaces and warring anti-Christian bias successful the workplace.
Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, president of the Senate committee holding the hearing, has championed galore of those causes. He accused the EEOC nether the Biden medication of “injecting its far-left" docket into the workplace, including by updating intersexual harassment guidelines to pass against misgendering transgender workers and including termination arsenic a pregnancy-related information nether regulations for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
Democrats connected the committee are apt to grill Lucas implicit disapproval that she overstepped her authorization by profoundly shifting the EEOC's absorption to the whims of the president successful the lack of a quorum, which committee has lacked since Trump fired the 2 commissioners.
Sen. Patty Murray, a subordinate of the committee, said she volition reason immoderate EEOC nominations unless Trump reinstates the 2 fired Democratic commissioners, which she and much than 200 different Democratic senators and Congress members condemned successful a missive to the president arsenic an maltreatment of power.
“President Trump is weaponizing the autarkic EEOC to service his idiosyncratic governmental agenda, firing commissioners without origin and warping the ngo of the EEOC beyond recognition,” Murray said successful a connection up of the hearing. “Commissioner Lucas is simply a right-wing extremist who has been successful lockstep down Trump’s pro-discrimination agenda.”
Lucas has made wide her views of the limitations of the EEOC's autonomy. In a caller memo to employers, Lucas declared that the “EEOC is an enforcement subdivision agency, not an autarkic agency" that volition "fully and robustly comply" with each enforcement orders. That includes two orders that Trump signed successful January: 1 directing national agencies to destruct their ain DEI activities and extremity immoderate “equity-related” grants oregon contracts, and the different imposing a certification proviso connected each companies and institutions with authorities contracts oregon assistance dollars to show that they don’t run DEI programs.
The EEOC's caller attack alarmed much than 30 civilian rights groups, which sent a missive to the Senate committee demanding that Lucas look a hearing. The groups argued that the EEOC was created by Congress nether 1964 Civil Rights Act to beryllium a bipartisan bureau that would relation independently from the enforcement branch.
The EEOC, the lone national bureau empowered to analyse employment favoritism successful the backstage sector, received much than 88,000 charges of workplace favoritism successful fiscal twelvemonth 2024. Its commissioners are appointed by the president to staggered terms, and nary much than 3 tin beryllium from the aforesaid party. Much of the EEOC's authorization is granted by Congress, including the work to analyse each complaints and enact regulations for implementing immoderate laws.
Under Lucas, the EEOC dropped seven of its ain lawsuits connected behalf of transgender oregon nonbinary workers. It besides moved to drop a radical favoritism case connected behalf of Black, Native American and multiracial occupation applicants aft Trump ordered national agencies to halt pursuing favoritism that falls nether “disparate interaction liability,” which aims to place practices that systematically exclude definite demographic groups.
Instead, Lucas has turned the EEOC's attraction to investigating institution DEI practices. In her astir precocious illustration move, she sent letters to 20 instrumentality firms demanding accusation astir diverseness fellowships and different programs she claimed could beryllium grounds of discriminatory practices.
Lucas has besides repeatedly encouraged workers nationwide to travel guardant with DEI complaints. She launched a hotline for whistleblowers and said workers should beryllium encouraged to study atrocious DEI practices aft a Supreme Court decision made it easier for achromatic and different non-minority workers to bring reverse-discrimination lawsuits.
________
The Associated Press’ women successful the workforce and authorities authorities sum receives fiscal enactment from Pivotal Ventures. AP is solely liable for each content. Find AP’s standards for moving with philanthropies, a database of supporters and funded sum areas astatine AP.org.
English (US) ·