WASHINGTON—It’s official: The Federal Communications Commission has transferred its Equal Employment Opportunity staff to work under the umbrella of its Enforcement Bureau, according to March 15’s Federal Register.
Specifically, EEO work will now operate out of the Enforcement Bureau’s Investigations & Hearings Division. A May 2018 proposal from The Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council and 33 other organizations suggested that a new Civil Rights branch be created; however, when Chairman Ajit Pai took up the cause, he declined to include that as part of his proposal to shift EEO work to the Enforcement Bureau.
Later that month, the commissioners voted to approve the change, which then required approvals from the House and Senate Appropriations Committees and the Office of Management and Budget. Additionally, the FCC says it negotiated an agreement with the National Treasury Employees Union regarding the shift.
Pai views this move as one part of his larger campaign to modernize FCC rules, according to an FCC press release about the change.
