On June 9, 2026, the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) concluded its review of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) proposal to rescind its reporting regulations and data collection forms (EEO1, EEO-3, EEO-4 and EEO-5).
The conclusion was a surprise to many groups, which had been granted meetings after June 9 to discuss the proposal. Since the EEO reports are required by EEOC regulations, the next step under the Administrative Procedures Act would be to publish the proposal in the Federal Register for notice and comment.
If the EEOC is to avoid requiring employers to submit EEO-1 reports for 2025 data, it needs to conclude the rescission by September 30 because its regulations currently require employers to submit the data by that date. The tight timeframe may be why OIRA’s review was concluded so quickly. In addition to eliminating the EEO data reports, the proposal also mentioned removing unspecified disclosure requirements under several major antidiscrimination laws the agency enforces.
EEOC Proposes to Revoke Its Voluntary Affirmative Action Regulation
On May 27, 2026, the EEOC submitted a proposal to OIRA to eliminate the agency’s 1979 regulation, which clarified when employers could implement voluntary affirmative action plans. The proposal is still under review. The recent Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinion (see “DOJ opinion declares EEOC regulations on disparate impact unconstitutional”) supports the EEOC’s proposal to eliminate the guidelines, saying they “run further into unconstitutional territory by purporting to authorize—and expressly encouraging—racial preferences . . . in response to actual or anticipated disparate impact.”
EEOC Issues New Rules on Federal Agency Data
OMB Director and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Acting Director Russell Vought submitted a complaint to the EEOC with the CFPB’s Management Directive (MD) 715, saying certain aspects of MD 715 violated various Trump Executive Orders (EOs) and needed to be updated. On June 3, 2026, the EEOC issued a press release stating that MD-715 no longer meets the needs of the modern federal government and that it was working on a replacement to improve effectiveness and accountability in the federal sector, eliminate unnecessary regulatory burdens unrelated to its statutory obligations, and address recent legal developments including Trump EOs. In the meantime, the new instructions tell agencies they are required to address “diversity and inclusion” principles, “barrier analysis,” “triggers,” or “gender identity.”
NAACP Sues EEOC for Records on White Men’s Charges
The NAACP filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas after she released a video and social media post in December 2025 encouraging white males to submit discrimination complaints directly to her office. The EEOC acknowledged the NAACP’s March 2026 request but denied its fee waiver application, claiming it failed to adequately demonstrate its ability to disseminate the information publicly. The agency then placed the request on hold pending fee payment despite the NAACP’s status as the nation’s oldest civil rights organization with a documented history of publishing reports. The NAACP filed a lawsuit against the EEOC on June 8, alleging the agency violated federal law for failing to fulfill the records request.
A G Equipment to Pay $4.25M to Settle COVID Mandate Discrimination
A G Equipment Company will pay $4,250,000 to over 40 workers and provide other relief to settle a religious and disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the EEOC. In the fall of 2021, the EEOC alleged A G Equipment mandated all employees receive a COVID-19 vaccination and told workers no exemptions would be permitted for any reason. The company refused to discuss the employees’ requests and fired all individuals who didn’t provide proof of vaccination, including workers who requested accommodations. In addition to millions in monetary relief, the three-year consent decree resolving the suit enjoins A G Equipment from discriminating based on religion or disability in the future. It also requires the company to train managers in compliance with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), inform employees regarding their right to reasonable accommodation for religion and disability, and report to the EEOC about handling future accommodation requests.
H. Juanita Beecher is an attorney with FortneyScott in Washington, D.C. You can reach her at nbeecher@fortneyscott.com.