Trump Fires two EEOC Democratic Commissioners In Rare Move (2 )

President Donald Trump fired 2 Democratic Equal Job opportunity Commission members in an unprecedented move that damages the Democrats’ ballot majority on the board, the pair validated in declarations Tuesday.

Trump’s firing of EEOC Commissioners Jocelyn Samuels and Charlotte Burrows leaves two seats on the five-member civil rights panel to be filled by nominations from the new administration.

The president also axed the commission’s general counsel, Karla Gilbride, who confirmed her dismissal in a statement published to LinkedIn on Tuesday evening.

The shootings of Samuels and Burrows bypass historic precedent of leaving commissioners in place at the independent company. Their ouster clears a path for the Trump administration to advance its second-term civil rights law agenda, which has up until now targeted diversity, job equity, and addition programs and gender identity securities through executive orders.

Due to staggered terms, the Democrats would have maintained a majority on the five-member EEOC up until 2026, when Samuels’ term was set to end. Without the Democrats’ ballot bloc in location, just recently called acting chair, job Republican Andrea Lucas, and future Trump appointees can steer the agency’s policy and lawsuits agenda.

Burrows, the former chair of the EEOC, Samuels, and got word of their shootings from the White House late Monday.

“I take pride in the work my colleagues and I have done to help eliminate barriers for level playing field for all workers and to promote fair and nondiscriminatory workplaces. While I strongly disagree with the President’s actions, and will explore all legal alternatives offered to me, I will continue to do all I can to combat for the rights of American workers and to support the efforts of others who do the exact same,” Burrows stated her declaration, in which she also stated she’s dealing with legal representatives from Katz Banks Kumin LLP.

Trump also ended 2 other essential officials from another independent labor-focused company, the National Labor Relations Board. He fired Democratic member Gwynne Wilcox and job Biden-era General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo on Monday.

The firings followed Republican-led states have mentioned securities commissioners at the EEOC have actually from being gotten rid of as unconstitutional in different claims challenging the agency’s work environment anti-harassment assistance and Pregnant Workers Fairness Act rules.

The EEOC is among numerous federal companies facing suits from challengers that argue its management is unconstitutionally secured from being fired at will by the president.

“It has been an honor and a privilege to act as an EEOC Commissioner, and I deeply regret this Administration’s short-sighted and unprecedented decision to remove me from a position to which I stay dedicated. I am considering my legal choices and will continue to advocate strenuously for the civil rights of all workers,” Samuels said in a declaration.

Gilbride’s firing has more precedent in the commission’s history. Former President Joe Biden fired Trump-appointed EEOC Chair Sharon Gustafson in 2021 after she refused to step down.

Gilbride stated in her published declaration she takes pride in the results the EEOC achieves for workers, and is “disheartened by the current executive orders that seem planned to distract federal agencies from their everyday work of serving the general public and instead require them to concentrate on settling scores with, and erasing traces of, the previous administration.”

Only Lucas, who Trump named as acting chair Jan. 20, in addition to Democratic Commissioner Kalpana Kotagal remain on the civil liberties panel. There is also a job open from a seat left by Keith Sonderling, who Trump recently called deputy labor secretary.