Seyfarth Synopsis: The Acting Chair of the EEOC has been renominated to serve another term as commissioner, and testified at her confirmation hearing on June 18, 2025. Confirmation is required for her to continue as Acting Chair. Ms. Lucas' testimony confirmed her allegiance to the Trump administration, and its EEO-related priorities.
On June 18, 2025, Andrea Lucas, Acting Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, testified at a confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Ms. Lucas was appointed by President Trump during his first administration in 2020 for a term running through July 1, 2025, and was appointed by him as acting chair in January 2025. In March, President Trump renominated Ms. Lucas as EEOC commissioner for a second term that would extend her tenure through July 2030.
Ms. Lucas' time as acting chair to date reflects her alignment with President Trump's executive orders and other policy priorities, including de-prioritizing claims asserted by nonbinary and transgender workers, rolling back protections for transgender workers (and sharply criticizing what Ms. Lucas called Biden-era "weaponiz[ation]" of the EEOC in this area), and vocally opposing diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, and turning the EEOC's focus toward anti-American national origin discrimination and protecting workers from religious bias and harassment.
During her testimony, Ms. Lucas confirmed her continued alignment with the Trump administration's priorities. In her prepared remarks, Lucas vowed: "As the head of the EEOC, I am committed to dismantling identity politics that have plagued our civil rights laws." She also referred to President Trump's "landmark civil rights executive orders" and said "President Trump has given the EEOC the most ambitious civil rights agenda in decades."
Although Ms. Lucas was clear she intends to enforce President Trump's executive order recognizing only two sexes and deprioritizing claims regarding discrimination against transgender individuals, Ms. Lucas declined to answer a question about how the EEOC will handle discrimination complaints from transgender workers, in light of a purported April 2025 order to classify all new gender identity-related discrimination cases as its lowest priority, which has the effect of deeming such claims as meritless, citing agency deliberative process privileges.
Ms. Lucas also echoed the Trump administration view that the EEOC is not an independent federal agency. Previously, the EEOC has viewed itself as an independent federal agency, a position also staked out on the Department of Labor's website; however, during the hearing, Ms. Lucas stated that "the EEOC is not an independent agency" but rather, is an executive agency that must comply with the President's orders. Lucas continued: "If the president gives me a lawful directive, which I'm confident that he would do, then I would obey that directive." She also said: "I think it is entirely appropriate for the president to direct the enforcement actions of the agency, consistent with the law." Nevertheless, Lucas declined to answer a question if she would obey orders to dismiss or file particular lawsuits against companies, again citing agency deliberative process privileges.
Lucas is expected to be confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate, though the timing for a final vote is not known at this time.
Since January, when President Trump fired two of the EEOC's Democratic commissioners, the EEOC has been without a quorum. This has inhibited Ms. Lucas' and the EEOC's ability to issue or amend (or rescind) guidance and regulations, and otherwise pursue Lucas' and President Trump's priorities. President Trump recently nominated Brittany Panuccio, currently an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of Florida, to serve as a commissioner and, if confirmed (though, confirmation will take some time), Panuccio would give the EEOC a quorum.
Implications for Employers: If Ms. Lucas is confirmed and the EEOC obtains a quorum, we can expect to see the EEOC's priorities, including investigation and litigation priorities, and rule-making priorities, to stay centered around the Trump administration's stated goals: investigating and ending DEI practices, and defending a binary view of sex and related rights. Employers should continue to monitor their policies and practices in light of this shift in agency focus.
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