OPM this week told individual agencies they should maintain sufficient staffing in EEO offices to comply with laws such as the Civil Rights Act and the Rehabilitation Act. Image: T. Schneider/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe EEOC has stressed that it “remains open for business” even though its five-member governing board no longer has a quorum following President Trump’s firing of two of the Democratic members, leaving two members split by party.
Further, an executive order against government DEIA initiatives did not “shut down the EEOC,” it said, although it did order closing the Office of Federal Contract Compliance in the Labor Department. “Unlike the EEOC (which was created by statute), the OFCCP was created by an executive order. The EEOC is an executive agency that is separate from any department, including the Department of Labor as well as the Department of Justice,” it said.
Regarding the agency’s role in complaints federal employees, it said: “Hearings for federal complainants before an EEOC administrative judge are not affected by loss of quorum. Processing of the vast majority of appeals to EEOC on final agency actions are delegated to the EEOC’s director of the Office of Federal Operations. A small subset still require a vote of the Commission.”
However, it added that the agency board needs a quorum to vote on rulemaking, issue new policies or rescind prior guidance. The current acting chair, Andrea Lucas, had voted against a number of policy decisions made during the Biden administration with a Democratic majority on the board.
No nominations have been made for the vacant positions.
Separately, OPM this week told individual agencies they should maintain sufficient staffing in EEO offices to comply with laws such as the Civil Rights Act and the Rehabilitation Act.
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