Dive Brief:
- The U.S. Senate confirmed Brittany Panuccio, an assistant U.S. attorney for the Justice Department in Florida, as a commissioner for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in a 51-47 vote Tuesday. Panuccio’s confirmation was part of an en bloc vote on several nominations.
- Panuccio fills the seat vacated in December by Keith Sonderling, who was named deputy labor secretary in March, and gives Republicans a majority. Her term expires July 1, 2029.
- Panuccio’s confirmation restores a quorum to EEOC, which has operated with only two commissioners since January, when President Donald Trump fired Democratic commissioners Charlotte Burrows and Jocelyn Samuels before the expiration of their terms.
Dive Insight:
Without a quorum, EEOC has been unable to perform a number of its duties, including issuing official guidance.
“It is important to note that the EEOC can carry out day-to-day tasks absent a quorum but cannot commence or intervene in select issues such as cases presenting systemic or widespread discrimination, cases expected to involve major expenditures, or cases presenting issues on which the Commission has taken a position contrary to precedent in the Circuit,” Brown Winick Law member Danielle Smid wrote in a July blog post.
With a quorum restored, it is likely EEOC will revisit Biden-era anti-harassment guidance that acknowledged gender identity-related harassment, per Trump’s direction, Smid said. However, EEOC’s efforts will be on pause for the time being due to the government shutdown.
Acting Chair Andrea Lucas also has said EEOC will revisit the Biden administration’s final rule enacting the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. Lucas specifically “does not agree with the Commission’s interpretation of the phrase ‘pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.’”
Lucas has aligned her initiatives with those of the Trump administration, Smid wrote. “These initiatives include deprioritizing discrimination claims made by nonbinary and transgender workers and opposing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs,” said Smid. “Lucas believes that the focus of the EEOC should be shifting its prioritization of protection towards anti-American national origin discrimination and religious bias and harassment.”
Trump nominated Panuccio in May to serve as a commissioner. She previously worked as an attorney advisor in the civil rights office of the U.S. Department of Education, as well as a special counselor in the agency’s general counsel office during the first Trump administration, according to government staffing records. She has served at DOJ since November 2021, per her LinkedIn profile.