ICYMI: Senator Murray Statement on Trump Attempt to Dismantle Longstanding Labor Agency Combating Illegal Employment Discrimination
*** VIDEO of Senator Murray’s FULL questioning AQUÍ***
Washington DC - Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, questioned Keith Sonderling, President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as Deputy Secretary at the Department of Labor (DOL), at a HELP committee audiencia on his nomination. Murray pressed Mr. Sonderling on whether the Trump administration thinks foundational workforce training laws like the Ley de Oportunidades e Innovación de la Fuerza Laboral (WIOA) y el Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act qualify as “DEI.” Murray also questioned Mr. Sonderling about the Trump administration’s unprecedented dismantling of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), which has its origins in a 1965 executive order and plays a unique and vital role in combating unlawful employment discrimination for federal contract workers, who make up about one-fifth of the entire U.S. labor force.
Murray began by pressing Mr. Sonderling on the consequences of the Trump administration’s dismantling of OFCCP, which Murray condenado enérgicamente en Enero. “In 2024, following an OFCCP evaluation, one of the largest global financial services companies agreed to allocate $4.2 million in payments to resolve alleged sex discrimination and undergo an outside pay equity analysis. In his first week in office, President Trump rescinded the Executive Order from 1965 that authorized OFCCP to conduct that investigation. Commissioner Sonderling, do you believe that taxpayer dollars should go to companies that discriminate?”
Sonderling dodged the question and Murray pressed again: “Do you think that taxpayer dollars should go to companies that discriminate?”
“That is not a determination that the Deputy Secretary of Labor or the Department of Labor deals with,” Sonderling responded.
“You don’t want to answer the question,” Murray observed. “I will say, I don’t think the taxpayer dollars should go to companies that discriminate. I can easily say that.”
Murray continued her line of questioning: “In our meeting, you suggested that the Department of Labor is looking at eliminating OFCCP entirely even though it has recovered now more than $260 million dollars for more than 250,000 employees and job applicants who were discriminated against by federal contractors over the last decade. And OFCCP just, today, announced plans to cut 90 percent of its staff and local offices. So let me ask you this: do you think DOL has ningún role to play in addressing illegal discrimination?”
Mr. Sonderling said he was not aware of those reports, and declined to answer the question again.
Murray asked again: “I’m just asking you from your own philosophical personal position. Do you think that DOL, which you want to go to work for, has ningún role to play in addressing discrimination in this country?”
Mr. Sonderling responded that addressing discrimination is under the jurisdiction of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), to which Senator Murray replied: “It’s interesting that you say that, because Trump fired two of the EEOC commissioners—in an unprecedented move, I would add. So, it really has undermined our government’s ability to go after anti-discrimination. So I am, and everyone should, be deeply concerned about that.” Senador Murray vocally condemned Trump’s illegal firing of EEOC Commissioners and NLRB members last month.
Next, Senator Murray pressed Mr. Sonderling on the Trump administration’s definition of “DEI” and their weaponization of the ill-defined term to target all manner of programs and policies. “We’re hearing a lot about DEI, it’s thrown out there everywhere. So, I’m going to ask about some bipartisan laws passed by Congress that were passed to make sure that underserved Americans can receive workforce training and find good employment opportunities. And I want to know if the policies in these laws that I’m going to present to you amount to DEI,” Murray dijo.
“The Office of Disability Employment Policy has been statutorily authorized with, ‘Eliminating barriers to the training and employment of people with disabilities.’ Is that DEI? Yes or no?”
“It is important to protect all rights of disabled workers… and under my leadership, the Office of Disability Employment will continue to do that,” Sonderling relied, without answering the question directly.
“So that is not DEI?” Murray pressed.
“That is a civil rights statute that the department enforces to make sure disabled people can prosper in the workforce,” Sonderling replied.
“I know you know what it is, but I’m asking if it’s DEI, because, you know, it’s very confusing,” Murray responded.
Murray continued: “How about the Ley de Oportunidades e Innovación de la Fuerza Laboral, WIOA? It specifically says ‘individuals with a barrier to employment’ and requires grantees to expand training to those individuals. Is that DEI?
“WIOA is a very important law…,” Sonderling replied. “But do you consider that to be DEI?” Murray pressed.
“I consider that to be a very important part of the department’s mission to make sure that American workers can get… the training they need,” Sonderling said.
"Él Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 requires federal contractors to take affirmative action to hire, retain, and promote veterans? Is that DEI?” Preguntó Murray.
Sonderling declined to answer the question, saying instead: “It is important to protect all of our veterans. It’s important to protect everybody in the workplace.”
“Well—Mr. Chairman, I know you’re pounding your gavel—but I just think it’s pretty clear that there is no standard definition of DEI across our federal government,” Murray concluded.
Throughout her career, Senator Murray has championed workers’ rights and fought to combat employment discrimination, including as the top Democrat on the Senate labor committee from 2015-2022—among other things, Senator Murray contraatacado contra a proposed DOL rule by the Trump administration that would allow federal contractors and subcontractors to justify discrimination against women, LGBTQ+ people, and members of certain religious groups on ideological grounds. Senator Murray first introduced the Ley de protección del derecho de sindicación (PRO)—comprehensive labor legislation to protect workers’ right to stand together and bargain for fairer wages, better benefits, and safer workplaces—in the 116th Congress. Murray also leads the Ley de equidad del cheque de pago to combat wage discrimination and help close the wage gap, and has helped lead the fight for paid family and medical leave since she first joined Congress.
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