| | | |  | | By Lawrence Ukenye and Nick Niedzwiadek | | | ON THE OUTS: President Donald Trump fired Democrats Jocelyn Samuels and Charlotte Burrows from their posts atop the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission last week, effectively bringing the panel to a standstill without at least three members necessary for a working quorum. While Trump was expected to quickly fire General Counsel Karla Gilbride from the agency, his ousting of both commissioners worried employment law advocates and left a vacuum in the federal government’s ability to enforce laws preventing employment discrimination. Morning Shift spoke with Samuels, who Trump appointed to the commission in 2020, about what the change-up means for the agency’s mission. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Did you anticipate your removal from the EEOC? There had been a lot of chatter about the theoretical possibility that this administration would try to remove commissioners of independent agencies. And certain regulated entities who challenge enforcement actions taken by independent agencies have increasingly been including claims that the agencies are unconstitutionally structured, and therefore that the enforcement action is invalid. So it isn't that the idea that this might happen was totally unknown, but I was shocked that it happened to me — in part because I was a Trump administration appointee in 2020, and they knew what my values and interpretations of the law were at that point in time. You and your fellow Democrats on the panel were outspoken about some of Trump's initial executive orders. How do you see the EEOC moving forward given his initial actions on DEI? Everybody agrees that quotas are unlawful, but I think what this administration and opponents of DEI have done over the course of the last several years is conflate that “quota” decision making with a suite of actions that are embraced by DEI, which are really intended to ensure that employers have a robust approach to identifying and addressing barriers to equal employment opportunity. I think [the action on DEI] is a very short-sighted thing, and will lead employers down the garden path and expose them to enhanced liability. What are you going to be doing in the meantime? Trying to use my platform to amplify the harmful effects of some of the initiatives that this administration has pursued, and to explain the impact that they have on vulnerable communities around them. I am trying to evaluate how I can help my staff, because through no fault of their own, they were also terminated as of the date of my removal, because their terms are tied to mine. That will have consequences, both for their income and for their access to health insurance. GOOD MORNING. It’s Monday, Feb. 3. Welcome back to Morning Shift, your go-to tipsheet on labor and employment-related immigration. Send feedback, tips and exclusives to nniedzwiadek@politico.com and lukenye@politico.com. Follow us on X at @NickNiedz and @Lawrence_Ukenye. Want to receive this newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You’ll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day’s biggest stories.
| | SLOPPY COPY: The message the White House sent last Monday to two National Labor Relations Board officials informing them that they had been fired by the president contained several apparent drafting errors. The terse, two-page memo, obtained via a public records request, appeared to imply that General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo was a member of the agency’s board; mentioned two board members when only one was being removed; and referred to that official, Gwynne Wilcox, incorrectly as “Commissioner Wilcox” on multiple occasions. Perhaps it was a holdover from a similar termination notice sent around the same time to two Democrats on the EEOC, as well as its top lawyer. Neither Trent Morse nor Sergio Gor, the two White House Office of Presidential Personnel officials listed on the letter, returned a request for comment. A White House official also declined to comment on the errors in the memo, but said Wilcox and Abruzzo were “far-left appointees with radical records of upending longstanding labor law, and they have no place as senior appointees in the Trump Administration, which was given a mandate by the American people to undo the radical policies they created.” NEXT DOMINO: Trump also fired the NLRB’s acting general counsel, Jessica Rutter, who stepped in for less than a week following Abruzzo’s firing. An NLRB spokesperson said that Trump fired Rutter on Saturday morning, but that a replacement was not immediately named and declined further comment. Rutter was named deputy general counsel at the end of November when Abruzzo’s previous No. 2, Peter Ohr, shifted over to associate general counsel of the enforcement litigation division — a career position. MEANWHILE: The NLRB on Saturday said it would continue processing unfair labor practice cases despite lacking the necessary quorum to issue rulings, due to Trump’s firing of Wilcox. While regional directors and NLRB field office staff will be able to continue much of their work, the vacancies will ultimately cause Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) or union election cases that need board adjudication to pile up indefinitely. More agency news: "OPM will grant VERA authority to all agencies, as confusion around ‘deferred resignation’ program continues," from the Government Executive. Even more: “FBI wrestles with a spike in sexual misconduct claims and male-dominated culture,” from the Associated Press.
| | WIK WOES: Democratic insiders elected Minnesota Party Chair Ken Martin to helm the Democratic National Committee, our Elena Schneider and Brakkton Booker report. Martin defeated Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler, who had piled up support from top elected officials — including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former acting Labor Secretary Julie Su. Martin had support from United Food and Commercial Workers and the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, while several other unions like American Federation of Teachers, Service Employees International Union and AFSCME sided with Wikler. The AFl-CIO opted not to endorse anyone. Former Obama administration Labor Secretary Hilda Solis gave a nominating speech for Martin, who beat Wikler by a nearly 2-1 margin in the crowded contest. More union news: "EPA union membership surges as Trump targets federal workers," from our Josh Siegel and Alex Guillén for Pro subscribers. Even more: “Costco, Teamsters negotiating committee reach tentative agreement,” from Reuters.
| | TOUGH TIMING: The parent company of popular footwear brands like UGG, Hoka and Teva took a substantial tumble Friday and into the weekend, with its stock losing about one-fifth of its value from where it ended the day on Thursday. Barring a swift recovery, that could be a costly development for one person in particular: former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Trump’s pick to lead the Labor Department. Chavez-DeRemer holds between $100,000-250,000 worth of stock in the company, Deckers Outdoor Corporation, and had pledged to divest herself of it within 90 days of her confirmation, according to documents released by the Office of Government Ethics last week.
| | IN THE OLD NORTH STATE: Amazon workers at RDU1 warehouse in Garner, North Carolina, will hold a vote next week on whether to form an independent union under Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity and Empowerment (CAUSE), in one of the first real tests of organized labor’s uphill climb in the Trump era. “A lot of folks, and a lot of workers are very frustrated, and rightfully so,” CAUSE leader Rev. Ryan Brown, who was fired from Amazon after working there for several years, said in an interview with POLITICO. “No one actually knows how to fight this Goliath we call Amazon yet. But eventually there’s just too much agitation and frustration.” North Carolina has the second-lowest union density in the country, and Brown said that he and other proponents have had to do a lot of work raising awareness about the potential upside of unionization. Still, he acknowledged that there are a lot of undecided workers heading into the election period later this month. Amazon, which has opposed unionization efforts at RDU1 and other facilities, has accused Brown of spreading false allegations against the company. “We've always said that we want our employees to have their voices heard, and we hope and expect this process allows for that,” Amazon spokesperson Eileen Hards said in a statement. “We believe our employees favor opportunities to have their unique voice heard by working directly with our team.”
| | MINORITY LIFE: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) sent a letter on Friday raising questions about the abrupt firing of the general counsel and two other Democratic appointees at the EEOC. In a letter to acting EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas obtained by POLITICO, Sanders requested “all communication between the President's Transition Team or Administration staff and EEOC employees since November 5, 2024,” and set a reply deadline of Feb. 12. “These firings have severely limited the EEOC's ability to carry out its important work on behalf of the American people-and have come at a time when civil rights protections are already under attack,” wrote Sanders, the top Democrat on the Senate HELP Committee. Sanders sent a similar inquiry to the NLRB, Axios reports. However, some of this communication has already come to light (see the NLRB item in this newsletter) and Sanders no longer has subpoena power to compel the now Republican-controlled agencies to meet his demands.
| | — “Disabled Workers Express Fear and Dismay After Trump’s Claims About the F.A.A.,” from The New York Times. — “UPS’s Boss Is Under Pressure From Unhappy Investors—Its Own Retirees,” from The Wall Street Journal. — "Dollar General Tells Stores to Let ICE Talk to Staff, Customers," from Bloomberg. — “When Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Came to Chicago,” from Michael Gerstein for POLITICO. THAT’S YOUR SHIFT! | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | |
