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

President Donald Trump fired 2 Democratic Equal Employment Opportunity Commission members in an unmatched relocation that undercuts the Democrats’ ballot bulk on the board, the set confirmed in declarations Tuesday.

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

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

The firings of Samuels and Burrows bypass historical precedent of leaving commissioners in place at the independent agency. Their ouster clears a course for the Trump administration to advance its second-term civil rights law program, which has up until now targeted diversity, employment equity, employment and inclusion programs and gender identity defenses through executive orders.

Due to staggered terms, the Democrats would have kept a majority on the five-member EEOC up until 2026, employment when Samuels’ term was set to end. Without the Democrats’ voting bloc in place, recently called acting chair, 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 Gilbride received word of their firings from the White House late Monday.

“I am proud of the work my coworkers and I have actually done to help eliminate barriers for level playing field for all employees and to promote fair and nondiscriminatory offices. While I strongly disagree with the President’s actions, and will check out all legal options available to me, I will continue to do all I can to battle for the rights of American workers and to support the efforts of others who do the same,” Burrows stated her statement, in which she also said she’s dealing with legal representatives from Katz Banks Kumin LLP.

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

The shootings followed Republican-led states have pointed out securities commissioners at the EEOC have actually from being eliminated as unconstitutional in separate suits challenging the agency’s workplace anti-harassment guidance and Pregnant Workers Fairness Act rules.

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

“It has been an honor and a benefit to act as an EEOC Commissioner, and I deeply regret this Administration’s short-sighted and unmatched choice to remove me from a position to which I remain dedicated. I am considering my legal choices and will continue to advocate strenuously for the civil liberties of all workers,” Samuels stated 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 declined to step down.

Gilbride said in her posted declaration she takes pride in the outcomes the EEOC accomplishes for workers, and employment is “disheartened by the recent executive orders that appear planned to sidetrack federal agencies from their everyday work of serving the public and rather require them to concentrate on settling ratings with, and eliminating traces of, the previous administration.”

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