Senate HELP Committee votes 11-11 on Kalpana Kotagal

On May 25, the Senate HELP Committee voted 11-11 down party lines on the nomination of Kalpana Kotagal, President Joe Biden’s nominee for Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) commissioner. The tie will require Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to hold an additional procedural vote to advance her nomination to the Senate floor. Kotagal, a longtime civil rights attorney at the plaintiff’s firm of Cohen Milstein, would replace former Trump Chair Janet Dhillon and would be the third Democratic commissioner.

During Kotagal’s confirmation hearing, Republicans raised issued issues as to whether she would support Trump initiatives requiring public disclosure of EEOC business and more importantly would agree to delegate litigation authority back to the agency’s regional solicitors. The real issue is that with Kotagal’s vote, the Biden administration will be able to advance its agenda at the agency.

Karla Gilbride nominated as EEOC General Counsel

President Biden nominated Karla Gilbride to be the EEOC General Counsel on June 7, a position that has been vacant since President Biden fired former Trump General Counsel Sharon Gustafson in March 2021. Gilbride is the senior attorney at the nonprofit advocacy group Public Justice and has a history of suing large employers for employment law violations, including arbitration rights, COVID-19 safety protocols, wage and hour issues, and employment discrimination. One of those suits led to a recent victory in the U.S. Supreme Court against Taco Bell over arbitration rights, Morgan v. Sundance.