Today, House Education and Labor Committee Republican Leader Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Republican Leader Richard Burr (R-NC) sent a letter to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Chair Charlotte Burrows about the noticeable pattern of partisanship and mismanagement at the agency that has developed during the Biden administration.
In the letter, Foxx and Burr write: “We write concerning several troubling developments at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC or Commission) during your chairmanship. In particular, since President Biden designated you as Chair on Jan. 21, 2021, EEOC has undermined a number of transparency and case-management reforms implemented under your predecessor. You have also issued guidance that directly contravenes the U.S. Supreme Court’s holding in Bostock v. Clayton County. Cumulatively, these actions demonstrate a pattern of partisanship and mismanagement that merits oversight."
The letter continues: “Despite the benefits of the Commission’s previous delegation reforms, a recent opinion piece written by Commissioner Dhillon and Commissioner Keith Sonderling and published in The Wall Street Journal demonstrates that they are now being abused and mismanaged. For example, they write that when a majority of the Commissioners vote against filing a proposed lawsuit, Acting General Counsel Gwendolyn Reams simply ‘withdraws’ the case administratively rather than formally closing the matter. The result of such subterfuge is to allow the General Counsel to bring the proposed lawsuit before the Commission again-presumably when it has a majority in place that will support your political agenda. These actions render the transparency measures embodied by the reforms a mockery…"
Foxx and Burr conclude: “EEOC’s actions during your tenure as chair indicate a level of secrecy, a lack of transparency, and a willingness to evade scrutiny that are deeply troubling. It is a shame that duly sworn commissioners have not been able to address these issues within EEOC and instead were compelled to air their concerns publicly to try to effectuate a much-needed course correction at EEOC."
Read the full letter here.
