ICYMI: Senator Murray Grills EEOC Commissioner Lucas on Dismissal of Discrimination Cases Under Trump’s Gender EO
***WATCH: Senator Murray’s questioning of Ms. Lucas at nomination hearing***
Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement on her vote against the nomination of Andrea Lucas to serve a second term on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Ms. Lucas is a current member of the EEOC and serves as Acting Chair.
At the HELP hearing last month on her nomination, Senator Murray grilled Ms. Lucas on the EEOC’s abrupt dismissal, since President Trump took office, of discrimination cases involving people who are nonbinary and the importance of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. Senator Murray also spoke out against Trump’s illegal firings of EEOC Commissioners Charlotte Burrows and Jocelyn Samuels, which she forcefully condemned in January and led a letter on in March demanding their immediate reinstatement.
The Senate confirmed Ms. Lucas to a second term at the EEOC tonight in a party-line vote of 52-45.
“In just a few short months as Acting Chair, Andrea Lucas has warped the mission of the EEOC beyond recognition and weaponized the agency to greenlight discrimination, roll back protections for people who are sexually assaulted at work, and intimidate anyone who challenges President Trump.
“In no world should someone who doesn’t believe in the EEOC’s existence as an independent bipartisan agency be charged with leading it. And the Senate should not be confirming any EEOC nominee until President Trump reinstates the Democratic Commissioners he illegally fired for no reason.
“Protecting Americans from discrimination at work shouldn’t be political. Andrea Lucas wants the EEOC to stand by and do nothing when Americans are discriminated against and instead go after anyone who disagrees with President Trump—she has no place leading an independent agency that’s supposed to protect workers.”
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Throughout her career, Senator Murray has championed workers’ rights and fought to combat employment discrimination, including as the top Democrat on the Senate labor committee from 2015-2022—among other things, Senator Murray fought back against a proposed DOL rule by the Trump administration that would allow federal contractors and subcontractors to justify discrimination against women, LGBTQ+ people, and members of certain religious groups on ideological grounds. Senator Murray first introduced the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act—comprehensive labor legislation to protect workers’ right to stand together and bargain for fairer wages, better benefits, and safer workplaces—in the 116th Congress, and also leads the Bringing an End to Harassment by Enhancing Accountability and Rejecting Discrimination (BE HEARD) in the Workplace Act, comprehensive legislation to prevent workplace harassment, strengthen and expand key protections for workers, and support workers in seeking accountability and justice.
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