Worker Policy Watch
Your source for accurate and reliable information on how federal policies are shaping workers’ rights—and what’s at stake for working people nationwide under the Trump administration.
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U.S. Department of Transportation Makes Renewed Deferred Resignation Offer to Employees
The U.S. Department of Transportation renewed its efforts to reduce its workforce through deferred resignation. This initiative targeted workers in the agency’s Office of Civil Rights and the Maritime Administration.
Impact:
The civil rights office enforces federal employment civil rights laws internally across the department, and externally for beneficiaries of the agency’s financial assistance. As part of a broader trend of degrading civil rights enforcement across the federal government, targeting this office for deferred resignations will likely lead to lower capacity to address instances of employment discrimination in these areas.
Trump Nominates Carter Crow to be EEOC General Counsel
President Trump nominated Carter Crow to be General Counsel of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Crow is a Houston-based attorney whose career has focused on representing corporations in employment cases, with an emphasis on wage and hour claims. In a recent interview, Crow stated that he is “strongly supportive of all of the priorities” of EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas.
Impact: The EEOC general counsel plays a critical role in enforcing our federal civil rights laws in the workplace. EEOC Chair Lucas and Commissioner Panuccio have made it clear that they see President Trump, not the law, as their highest authority. They have followed Trump's lead in targeting LGBTQ workers, immigrant workers, and more. If confirmed, Carter Crow must follow the law and the agency’s mission, not Trump, Lucas, and Panuccio. The Senate must scrutinize Crow’s record and hold him accountable to that responsibility.
Black Women Disproportionately Impacted By Trump Administration Layoffs and Policy Changes
Around 300,000 Black women have exited the labor force in the U.S. in the past three months driven largely by layoffs and policy changes under the Trump administration, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics and other experts.
Impact:
In addition to the mass firings and layoffs of federal workers, the Trump administration’s crackdown on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility has changed the workforce landscape in the corporate world, leading to large numbers of Black women leaving the workforce.
Trump Orders Payment of $100,000 for Any New Visas Issued to Foreign Workers in Certain Highly Skilled Professions
This payment is designed to try to stem abuse of this program and instead make sure employers make adequate efforts to fill the positions with people already living in the United States.
Impact: With the new fee applying only to new visas and not to existing visa holders, it remains to be seen just how effective the new policy will be.
Trump Issues “The Gold Card” Executive Order, Allowing People and Employers To Purchase Immigration Visas for $1 Million and $2 Million Respectively
Visas are very hard to come by, with many people waiting more than a decade to immigrate to the United States to escape oppressive conditions and be reunited with family members.
Impact: The United States will now start the unseemly practice of selling visas to those who can afford to spend exhorbitant amounts of money, rather than those who have waited in line and have compelling reasons to immigrate.
The Centers for Disease Control End Telework for Workers With Disabilities Who Need Reasonable Accommodations
The federal government is required to provide reasonable accommodations to workers with disabilities so they can perform their jobs. Often, teleworking is the most effective accommodation.
Impact: Once the current accommodations expire, workers with disabilities will find it much more difficult to continue working at the CDC, perhaps leading to further reductions in an already depleted and much needed workforce.
EEOC Acting Chair Plans Agency Reorganization, Including Elimination of Data Office
EEOC Acting Chair Andrea Lucas informed lawmakers of her intention to restructure the agency. Changes include the elimination of the Office of Enterprise and Data Analytics (OEDA) and transferring outreach, education, and training functions to the Office of Communication and Legislative Affairs. Lucas claims that the plans do not involve cutting any functions or staff.
Impact:
OEDA handled important EEOC data efforts like the EEO-1 workforce demographic data collection. And transferring important functions to the Office of Communication and Legislative Affairs brings them under more direct political control of Lucas and her appointees. Even without quorum or a voting majority on the commission, Lucas has sought to roll back many of the agency’s key functions and initiatives, and that context demands scrutiny for these planned changes.
Immigration Raids and Audits Impacting Workers and Elevating Risks to Businesses
Aggressive Trump administration immigration policy is putting businesses and gig corporations and their workforces on edge as companies anticipate a hiring squeeze.
Impact:
More than two dozen quarterly or annual filings from companies over the last month have revealed deep anxiety over civil penalties, workplace raids, and worker shortages in many sectors, as a result of the Trump administration’s immigration policy. Impacts are being felt and anticipated in science and technology sectors as well as in app-based or gig corporations. In some cities, up to 90 percent of ridehail drivers on digital labor platforms are immigrants, according to some reports.
U.S. Labor Force Has Lost 1.2 Million Immigrant Workers This Year, New Report Finds
A Pew Research Center analysis of Census data has found that 1.2 million immigrant workers left the U.S. labor force between January and July 2025. That total is inclusive of both documented and undocumented immigrants.
Impact:
Immigrant workers contribute to job growth and overall economic strength, and make up nearly 20% of the U.S. workforce. Businesses in industries that disproportionately rely on immigrant workers, like agriculture, construction, and care work, are particularly hard hit, with reports of wasted crops and construction slowdowns.
Mothers Are Leaving the U.S. Workforce in 2025
New analysis finds that the workforce participation rate for mothers aged 20 to 44 with young children declined by two percent from January to July 2025. This decline is driven by numerous factors, but the Trump administration’s approach of emphasizing jobs in male-dominated fields, rolling back flexible work arrangements like remote work, and attacking diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace are all likely contributing to this trend.
Impact:
Reversing both short and long term trends to push mothers out of the labor force will make it harder for these workers to support their families and weaken the economy, which will lose access to their skills and contributions.