Trump fires two Democratic commissioners on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

The commission is a five-person panel that is appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate to five-year terms.

Published: January 29, 2025 8:03pm

President Donald Trump dismissed two of the three Democratic commissioners on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) this week, which is a bipartisan panel that enforces civil rights in the workplace. 

The president fired Charlotte Burrows and Jocelyn Samuels on Monday, but the departures were confirmed to the Associated Press on Tuesday. Both are expected to challenge the Trump administration over the dismissals, which occurred before the end of their five-year terms.

“Removing me from my position before the expiration of my Congressionally directed term is unprecedented, violates the law, and represents a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of the EEOC as an independent agency," Samuels said in a statement. 

“The President’s action undermines the stability and continuity of EEOC’s critical work to advance equal opportunity and fair treatment," Samuels continued. "It disserves both workers and employers, who rely on the EEOC to inform them about their rights and responsibilities, provide guidance about how to comply with the law, and promote accountability when discrimination has occurred. These removals leave the EEOC without a quorum, which hobbles the agency’s ability to protect workers from unlawful discrimination.”

The commission is a five-person panel whose members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate to five-year terms. The terms are intended to stagger and overlap with different presidential administrations in order to ensure the agency’s independence, per The Hill.

The EEOC was established under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, in order to protect workers from discrimination on the basis of race, gender, disability, or other protected identity statuses. 

The dismissals are the latest in Trump's effort to purge the federal government of employees who do not align with his administration's policies. Trump has also fired a string of inspectors general, and immigration court officials at the Justice Department since taking office.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.

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