Overview

• At her June 18 hearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, Lucas defended her decision to drop seven EEOC lawsuits representing transgender or nonbinary workers.
• She asserted that the EEOC functions under presidential authority and must comply with two January executive orders targeting diversity initiatives and prohibiting disparate impact liability.
• The agency moved to dismiss a racial discrimination case against Sheetz and sent information requests to 20 law firms probing diversity fellowship programs.
• Senate Republicans praised Lucas’s rollback of Biden-era guidance on gender identity and DEI practices while Democrats criticized her for eroding the commission’s independence.
• Her nomination for a new five-year term requires Senate confirmation and has drawn backing from a conservative coalition and a letter of opposition from more than 30 civil rights groups.