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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Trump Nominates Brittany Panuccio to EEOC
President Trump nominated Brittany Panuccio to be a commissioner on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Panuccio is currently an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Florida. Previously, she worked in the first Trump administration in the Department of Education under Secretary Betsy DeVos and in the Department of Justice supporting the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Impact:
At Trump’s direction, EEOC Acting Chair Andrea Lucas has stopped enforcing civil rights laws that protect trans workers, attacked diversity, equity, and inclusion practices, and removed critical resources from the commission’s website. The commission, designed by Congress to be independent and bipartisan, is currently deadlocked at 1-1 due to Trump’s unprecedented firing of Democratic commissioners Charlotte Burrows and Jocelyn Samuels. If Pannucio is confirmed, the EEOC would have a 2-1 Republican majority and the quorum Lucas needs to take votes that could further roll back civil rights in the workplace.
Trump Proposes Slashing One Third of the Department of Labor’s Budget for FY2026
Under Trump’s budget proposal for FY2026, the Department of Labor’s (DOL) discretionary budget would shrink from its current $13.3 billion to $8.6 billion for next fiscal year.
Impact:
The bulk of the budget cuts would come from the elimination of the Job Corps program and overhauling DOL’s grant programs. The Job Corps program supports young Americans age 16-24 who are not working or currently in school and lack access to the skills needed for gainful employment. The DOL's grants cover areas including skills training, workforce development, and support for vulnerable populations.
Under Trump DOL Will Halt Enforcement of 2024 Independent Contractor Rule, Making it Easier for Employers to Misclassify Workers
The Acting Administrator of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division issued a memo notifying that it will no longer apply the 2024 Independent Contractor (IC) Rule’s analysis when determining employee versus independent contractor status in FLSA investigations.
Impact:
The Wage and Hour division will now revert back to the 2019 guidelines issued by now Deputy Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling. The 2024 IC rule has multiple pending legal challenges. The Rule provides guidance for determining who is an IC (and therefore not a protected employee) under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Trump administration reverting to it’s 2019 guidance and will make it easier for employers to misclassify their workers as independent contractors.
OPM Says Agencies Can Fire Probationary Federal Workers Without Cause
According to guidance from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), probationary workers can be fired without performance-related cause.
Impact:
Thousands of probationary federal workers who were fired without cause and subsequently reinstated now face being fired for a second time. The OPM guidance expands upon Trump’s earlier executive order designed to strip job protections from federal workers, including probationary employees.
Department of Labor Staffers Placed on Leave Amid DOGE Efforts to Access Sensitive Immigrant Worker Data
Multiple U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) employees who handle sensitive data of immigrant workers are placed on leave as DOGE seeks agency data to advance Trump’s deportation agenda.
Impact:
This builds on DOGE’s earlier attempts to access DOL worker data, including employment based visa (ETA) data related to the National Farmworker Jobs Program. DOGE’s potentially illegal access could jeopardize trust with workers and the agency.
Whistleblower Claims DOGE Accessed Confidential NLRB Data
A whistleblower has reported to Congress that a DOGE team accessed sensitive and confidential National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) information on unions and ongoing legal cases and tried to cover their tracks.
Impact:
Given the Trump administration’s hostility towards labor organizations and unions, the whistleblower believes that the suspicious DOGE activity warrants further investigation by the FBI and others, and that if this information becomes public, it could do damage to unions and corporations and undermine the NLRB’s independence.
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court puts a hold on reinstatement of Wilcox and Harris
The stay gives the Court time to take up the merits of the case, which will also be argued before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Impact:
As long as the stay is in effect, the NLRB lacks a quorum and the MSPB has only two members.
Trump Ends Union Dues Collection for Most Federal Workers
The Trump administration has stopped collecting federal workers’ union dues at the federal agencies targeted by a recent executive order to strip workers of collective bargaining rights.
Impact:
Without notice to unions or federal workers, the government’s three main payroll processors have all stopped collecting union dues directly from workers’ paychecks. This comes after Trump’s executive order seeking to end collective bargaining rights for federal workers. The administration has also filed several lawsuits in federal court aimed at ending federal workforce union contracts at agencies targeted by the executive order.
U.S. Supreme Court Blocks Rehiring of Fired Federal Workers
The U.S. Supreme Court halted a judge’s order for the Trump administration to rehire thousands of fired federal workers, holding that the plaintiffs in the case, all organizations representing federal employees and their interests, did not have standing to bring suit.
Impact:
The court halted U.S. Judge William Alsup's March 13 injunction requiring six federal agencies to reinstate thousands of probational federal workers. The impact of the Supreme Court’s decision may be more limited in this case, since five of the six federal agencies under Judge Alsup’s injunction are part of a separate lawsuit where a judge ruled that thousands of probationary federal workers must be rehired if they live in Washington, D.C. or one of the 19 states that have sued over the firings.
IRS Agrees to Collaborate with Immigration Enforcement
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) reached an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to share sensitive taxpayer data in order to help find immigrants the agency is seeking to deport. Under the terms of the deal, ICE officials can request information from the IRS about individuals who have been ordered to leave the U.S. or who are otherwise under investigation. Taxpayer data is highly protected under federal law, and many officials have warned that the agreement could be illegal.
Impact:
Millions of undocumented workers pay billions in taxes each year, supporting critical programs like Social Security. For years, the IRS has encouraged those workers to submit tax returns based on the promise of keeping their data separate from immigration enforcement. This action will increase fear in immigrant communities, and will likely drive workers to stop filing their taxes, undermining federal programs, and seek jobs with unscrupulous employers who pay under the table--making themselves even more vulnerable to exploitation on the job and driving down standards for all workers.