Employment Agency Pushes Discrimination Cases That Match Trump's Agenda

Source: New York Times

April 27, 2026 Updated 3:34 p.m. ET


Field staff at the federal agency that enforces civil rights laws in the workplace say they are under intense pressure from leadership to bring in cases that fit the Trump administration’s priorities, including charges of discrimination against white men and charges of antisemitism on college campuses.

That pressure has led investigators and lawyers at the agency, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, to focus its thin resources on pursuing and fast-tracking cases that have little evidence and tenuous legal bases, according to more than a dozen current and former employees, both Republicans and Democrats.

They described a deeply demoralized and fearful work force, diminished by years of attrition and a surge of resignations and retirements during the second Trump administration. Current and recently departed employees, who requested anonymity because they feared professional repercussions, said the commission’s Republican chair, Andrea Lucas, had recast the agency to carry out President Trump’s executive orders. They said they felt compelled to speak because they were concerned about the future of the agency, where many saw their work enforcing the nation’s civil rights laws as a moral calling that has now been abandoned.

Ms. Lucas has provided regular updates on major cases to the White House, two current employees said. That is a departure from the past, when there was a firewall between the agency and the White House. The contact is in keeping with the Trump administration’s view — which Ms. Lucas has publicly supported, and which the Supreme Court is expected to rule on this year — that agencies like the commission are not independent but are subject to the president’s authority.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/27/us/politics/eeoc-trump-discrimination-cases.html