A budget cut proposal from the Trump administration would significantly impact the government’s ability to protect America’s civil rights laws, according to more than 70 civil rights activist groups.
The proposal would merge the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) by the end of 2018. Prior to the merger, the OFCCP would take a 16 percent slash to its budget losing just over $17 million and lose 131 of its full time staff members. The EEOC is slated to lose 249 full-time employees before the merger.
The plan prompted 73 civil rights groups to sign an open letter to Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta and John Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Signers include the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Lambda Legal, NAACP, the National Council of La Raza and National LGBTQ Task Force.
