EEOC Advances Employer-Friendly Regulatory Agenda Under New Majority

The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has submitted 10 proposed regulatory actions to the Office of Management and Budget, marking its first substantive rulemaking push since regaining a quorum.

The initiatives reflect a distinctly employer-friendly recalibration of federal anti-discrimination policy under the agency’s Republican majority, writes Robin E. Shea of Constangy Brooks Smith & Prophete.

President Trump removed two Democratic commissioners shortly after taking office, leaving the EEOC without a quorum for much of 2025. Commissioner Jocelyn Samuels initially challenged her removal in court, but dropped her suit following the Supreme Court’s ruling in Trump v. Slaughter, confirming presidential authority to remove certain federal officials without cause.

The subsequent appointment of a second Republican commissioner restored a quorum and shifted the EEOC’s composition, setting the stage for reversal of Biden-era guidance and rules.

The proposed actions target several longstanding frameworks, including rescission of the 1979 sex discrimination guidelines appendix, the 1978 Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures, and the 1980 national origin guidelines. Each furthers the Commission’s effort to curtail disparate impact liability theory.

Additional proposals would eliminate voluntary affirmative action protections, end mandatory EEO demographic reporting requirements, revise Pregnant Workers Fairness Act regulations concerning accommodation, and adjust administrative procedures around penalty amounts and public records access.

Employment counsel should anticipate a reduced disparate impact enforcement posture, which will affect how enterprise risk management and compliance programs are structured going forward.

The potential elimination of EEO-1 and related reporting requirements could ease disclosure obligations for covered employers, though state-level requirements persist.

Companies should track anticipated changes to pregnancy accommodation regulations.