Dems Lose It as Trump Appoints Anti-DEI Lawyer to Head Top Civil Rights Agency

President Donald Trump has named Andrea Lucas as chair of the country’s top workplace civil rights agency, the agency announced Thursday. The move signals a vote of confidence for Lucas’s efforts to stamp out diversity programs and protect freedom of religion in the workplace.

First nominated to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2020 during Trump’s first administration, Lucas was confirmed in July for a second five-year term. Democratic lawmakers strongly opposed Lucas’ confirmation, accusing her of politicizing the agency against Congress’s intent and undermining workers’ civil rights.

Republican lawmakers praised her leadership, especially her commitment to rolling back Biden-era guidance on workplace policies related to transgenderism, which Lucas has argued overstepped the EEOC’s authority.

“I’m honored to be designated Chair of the EEOC,” Lucas said in an ed statement Thursday. “Under the Trump Administration, the Commission has made significant progress advancing its core mission to uphold our nation’s civil rights laws and protect American workers through consistent, effective enforcement. As Chair, I remain committed to enforcing the law evenhandedly, advancing equal opportunity, and upholding merit-based, colorblind equality in America’s workplaces.”

Trump elevated Lucas to acting chair in January and, in an unprecedented move, fired two Democratic commissioners, clearing the way to establish a Republican majority in the agency. The Senate last month confirmed Trump pick Brittany Panuccio as a commissioner, restoring the EEOC to the full power needed to deepen his overhaul of civil rights enforcement.

In a shake-up of the agency’s prior focus, the EEOC under Lucas’s leadership has taken on several religious discrimination cases, including a charge against the Mayo Clinic alleging it refused to grant a security guard’s request for a religious accommodation to a mandatory COVID vaccination policy. The hospital system did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

It has also dropped lawsuits on behalf of self-proclaimed transgender workers, analyzed incoming complaints related to gender identity to heightened scrutiny, and stopped investigating complaints based on “disparate impact liability.” Lucas has leveraged the agency to help the Trump administration target private institutions over their DEI programs.

The National Women’s Law Center — a legal organization suing the EEOC over its purported treatment of discrimination complaints from self-described transgender workers — decried Lucas’s promotion.

“Andrea Lucas was handpicked by Trump to lead the EEOC and his mission of weaponizing the agency to attack hardworking people across the country. As acting chair, she has made clear she is a Trump loyalist dedicated to carrying out his radical crusade against programs that encourage diversity, equity and inclusion,” Lauren Khouri, senior director of workplace equality, remarked.

“Lucas has a history of abandoning workers at every turn and leaving them without protection, including women workers, transgender and nonbinary workers, and workers of color. People across the country are struggling to make ends meet and find stability at work, and we will fight to ensure they’re able to work safely, free from harassment and discrimination,” she said.

Conservative legal organization Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, however, expressed optimism for the agency’s future.

“Andrea Lucas is a champion of equality and race-neutrality,” WILL vice president and deputy counsel Dan Lennington said. “The EEOC will be pivotal in extinguishing race-conscious policies, like DEI, from the private sector. The agency’s investigation power can support the millions of Americans negatively impacted by racial preferences, goals, and quotas at work.”

The Western Journal has not reviewed this Associated Press story prior to publication. Therefore, it may contain editorial bias or may in some other way not meet our normal editorial standards. It is provided to our readers as a service from The Western Journal.

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