EEOC Voting Shift Would Limit Commissioner Public Meeting Power

EEOC commissioners would lose guarantees of both allotted time to consider key decisions and the ability to request pre-vote public hearings, if the agency’s leadership carries out a plan to rescind voting standards.

In a meeting notice posted Wednesday, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said it will consider axing current voting procedures.

The standards codified into internal written procedures last year provide ground rules on briefing periods for commissioners to study and discuss proposals before a vote on policy or litigation, as well as on their ability to call public meetings, according to a copy of the standards viewed by Bloomberg Law.

Eliminating such procedures could consolidate more power under Republican Chair Andrea Lucas at a time when the agency has a full agenda of Trump administration priorities, and now has a long-awaited quorum enabling voting to restart.

The commission voted to approve of the existing procedures in January 2025, ahead of President Donald Trump’s return to office, when it was comprised mostly of Democrats. Lucas, then in the minority, voted against the standards.

Though the procedures grant the EEOC chair some discretion on timing, they say major policy documents, such as proposed rulemaking, guidance, or final rules, should be circulated to the commission for a 30-day briefing period.

Litigation recommendations that are subject to a commission vote are generally allotted 10 business days of consideration, according to the document.

Commissioners are also given the option in the procedures to vote to “agenda” an item—a request the commission consider it at an either public or closed meeting. These items then can’t advance until they are approved by the majority of commissioners at a meeting, or the given commissioner withdraws their vote or departs the commission.

The chair has the discretion to exclude the matter from agendas, however the commission can’t advance that item until it is addressed by the requested meeting, the procedures say.

The EEOC did not respond to a request for comment on the proposed rescission.

The EEOC hasn’t been able to hold any votes for the majority of the first year of the second Trump administration since it lacked quorum after the president fired two Democratic commissioners in January.

With the confirmation of Republican Brittany Panuccio, the commission is now able to vote and move ahead with Lucas’s policy and litigation priorities.

A removal of the voting procedures could enable Lucas to pursue votes on significant policy rollbacks without the ability of any commissioner to request a required meeting.

The agency has already roiled some critics by moving ahead to rescind Biden-era harassment guidance, which included certain LGBTQ+ protections, without a public comment period.

Lucas has also indicated the commission will hold a vote to reconsider the scope of Pregnant Workers Fairness Act rules, and bring litigation targeting diversity, equity and inclusion programs at companies as discriminatory.