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

President Donald Trump fired two Democratic Equal Employment Opportunity Commission members in an unprecedented move that damages the Democrats’ ballot majority on the board, the pair verified in declarations Tuesday.

Trump’s shooting of EEOC Commissioners Jocelyn Samuels and Charlotte Burrows leaves 2 seats on the five-member civil rights panel to be filled by elections from the brand-new administration.

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

The firings of Samuels and Burrows bypass historic precedent of leaving commissioners in place at the independent firm. Their ouster clears a course for employment the Trump administration to advance its second-term civil rights law agenda, which has so far targeted variety, equity, and addition programs and gender identity securities through executive orders.

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

Burrows, the previous chair of the EEOC, employment Samuels, employment and Gilbride received word of their firings from the White House late Monday.

“I am proud of the work my colleagues and I have done to assist remove barriers for equivalent opportunity for all employees and to promote fair and nondiscriminatory offices. While I strongly disagree with the President’s actions, and will explore all legal options available to me, I will continue to do all I can to eliminate for the rights of American workers and to support the efforts of others who do the same,” Burrows said her statement, in which she also said she’s working with attorneys from Katz Banks Kumin LLP.

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

The firings come after Republican-led states have cited securities commissioners at the EEOC have actually from being gotten rid of as unconstitutional in separate claims challenging the firm’s office anti-harassment guidance and Pregnant Workers Fairness Act guidelines.

The EEOC is among a number of federal agencies dealing with lawsuits from oppositions that argue its leadership is unconstitutionally protected from being fired at will by the president.

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

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

Gilbride said in her posted declaration she is happy of the outcomes the EEOC attains for workers, and is “discouraged by the current executive orders that appear meant to distract federal firms from their daily work of serving the public and rather require them to concentrate on settling scores with, and erasing traces of, the previous administration.”

Only Lucas, who Trump called as acting chair Jan. 20, employment together with Democratic Commissioner stay on the civil rights panel. There is likewise a vacancy open from a seat left by Keith Sonderling, who Trump recently called deputy labor secretary.