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Category: Agency Enforcement

Transportation Department Will Enforce English Language Standards for Commercial Truck Drivers

The Trump Administration has announced that it will resume enforcing English language proficiency rules for commercial truckers. Executive Order 14286, issued April 28, gave the Transportation Department’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration 60 days to issue new guidance. The new guidance, announced May 20, calls for commercial motor vehicle drivers who fail to meet FMCSA’s longstanding English-language proficiency requirements to be...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

EEOC Halts Funding for State and Local Investigations of Transgender Bias and Disparate Impact

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will no longer reimburse state and local agencies for investigating gender identity, transgender, or disparate impact claims. However, states may continue to fund such investigations on their own, and plaintiffs may still seek redress in federal court. A May 20 memorandum from the EEOC’s Office of Field Programs announced the policy shift, which applies retroactively to January 20,...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

Trump Seeks Significant Cuts to FY26 Budget of Workplace Regulators

President Trump’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 would eliminate the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) and substantially cut funding for most agencies that regulate the workforce. The President submitted his budget request to Congress May 30. DOL’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS) would assume OFCCP’s enforcement of the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA,...
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Category: Affirmative Action and Diversity

President Trump Proposes Eliminating OFCCP

President Trump’s FY 2026 budget request proposes abolishing the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. Under this proposal, OFCCP’s enforcement of the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) would shift to the Labor Department’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (DOL-VETS), and OFCCP’s enforcement of Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act would shift to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The proposed...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

EEOC Subpoena Enforcement Suggests Focus on Anti-American Discrimination

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is seeking to enforce a subpoena against Mauser Packaging Solutions in connection with a Commissioner’s charge alleging unlawful steering and discrimination against American workers. The EEOC asserts that Mauser has not complied with its information requests seeking an electronic database of job candidates and incumbent employees at eight facilities over four years, including demographic, personnel, and contact...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

DOJ Launches Civil Rights Fraud Initiative Targeting Federal Contractors

The U.S. Department of Justice has launched a civil rights fraud initiative that will use the False Claims Act (FCA) to investigate federal contractors’ civil rights violations, DOJ announced May 19. The initiative will be led jointly by DOJ’s Civil Division's Fraud Section — which enforces the False Claims Act, and DOJ’s Civil Rights Division — which enforces civil rights laws....
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Category: Agency Enforcement

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Withdraws Numerous Guidance Documents Pending Review

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has withdrawn 67 guidance documents, including those addressing whistleblower protections and the use of monitoring technology in the workplace. The CFPB’s May 12 announcement stated that many were inconsistent with federal statutory text and imposed compliance burdens without opportunities for public notice and comment. Some documents could be reinstated after further review, the notice said,...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

President Trump Nominates Brittany Bull Panuccio to EEOC

President Trump nominated Brittany Bull Panuccio on May 6 to fill one of the three open seats on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Her confirmation would give the EEOC a quorum, which will allow it to move forward with the Trump Administration’s policy priorities. The EEOC has lacked a quorum — and therefore has been unable to adopt or rescind...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

DOL Pauses Enforcement of Biden’s Independent Contractor Rule

The Labor Department (DOL) will no longer enforce the existing independent contractor rule, DOL announced May 1. Instead, when deciding whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor, the Wage and Hour Division will rely on Fact Sheet #13 (which originated during President George W. Bush’s term), according to Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2025-1. The Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) minimum wage and...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

Trump Administration’s New Position on Disparate Impact Liability Doesn’t Impact Private Litigation

On April 23, President Trump signed Executive Order 14281, Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy, which seeks to eliminate the use of disparate-impact liability under civil rights laws. Disparate impact is a theory under many civil rights laws that can lead to liability when a neutral policy or practice adversely affects members of a protected class. The E.O. directs the Equal Employment...

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