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STATEMENT: Senate Confirmation of EEOC Commissioner Brittany Panuccio Allows Trump’s Takeover of EEOC, Jeopardizes Civil Rights Enforcement
Statement from Deborah J. Vagins, National Campaign Director of Equal Rights Advocates & Director of Equal Pay Today, on today’s Senate confirmation of Brittany Panuccio to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 7, 2025 – Equal Rights Advocates (ERA), which has spent 50 years fighting for gender justice in workplaces and schools across the country, strongly condemns the Senate’s decision to confirm Brittany Panuccio as a Commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Her confirmation hands the Trump administration the vote needed to complete its systematic dismantling of the EEOC’s independence and accelerate attacks on civil rights protections for workers nationwide.
Today’s Senate en bloc confirmation vote of 51-47 for Panuccio gives the EEOC a quorum for the first time under the Trump administration, clearing the way for formal rollbacks of decades of progress in civil rights enforcement.
The position of EEOC Commissioner requires deep knowledge of employment discrimination law and proven dedication to enforcing workers’ rights. Panuccio’s confirmation is deeply troubling for workers and their families because her extremely limited experience in civil rights and employment law has been devoted to making it harder for workers who have experienced discrimination and harassment to get relief. Panuccio’s role in crafting the Trump administration’s 2020 Title IX rule on sexual assault and harassment significantly weakened protections against sexual harassment in schools by making it harder to report sexual violence and narrowing its definition. Harassment remains widespread in workplaces across the country, and the EEOC plays a critical role in preventing and addressing this harassment.
With a Trump-controlled EEOC now possessing a quorum, we expect an immediate acceleration of the administration’s anti-worker agenda. Panuccio has already signaled that she intends to carry out the President’s agenda by politicizing the EEOC, which has been an independent agency protected from extreme party politics. Since January, the EEOC has already abandoned transgender workers, dismissed lawsuits protecting their rights, and sent intimidating letters, without a quorum, to employers about their diversity practices. Now, with Panuccio providing the third vote, it’s likely the Commission will formally roll back decades of progress in civil rights enforcement.
The Senate has failed in its duty to ensure qualified commissioners lead this critical agency. Instead of protecting workers’ rights, they have handed Trump the tools to dismantle civil rights enforcement from within.
Equal Rights Advocates will continue to defend workers’ rights through litigation, policy advocacy, and organizing, ensuring that attempts to dismantle workplace protections are met with fierce resistance. We will not allow this administration to erase 60 years of progress toward equal opportunity in the workplace.
To request an interview with ERA experts, contact Nazirah Ahmad at nazirah@emccommunications.com or 704-290-6869.
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About Equal Rights Advocates
Equal Rights Advocates fights for gender justice in workplaces and schools across the country. Since 1974, they have been fighting on the front lines of social justice to protect and advance rights and opportunities for women, girls, and people of all gender identities through groundbreaking legal cases and bold legislation that sets the stage for the rest of the nation. www.equalrights.org