Congress is currently considering a drastic funding cut to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) – a key federal agency tasked with enforcing civil rights in the workplace. The EEOC, which celebrated its 60th anniversary earlier this year, is an independent federal agency that enforces laws prohibiting job discrimination and harassment, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. Through its enforcement of these laws, the EEOC helps to ensure workers have equal opportunity in employment. But for years, Congress has underfunded this important agency.
Funding for the EEOC Has Not Meaningfully Increased in 45 Years, Despite a Larger Workforce, More Charges, and New Civil Rights Laws
When adjusting for inflation, the agency is now receiving less than it was 45 years ago, despite increased demands on the agency. Here’s what has changed in the last 45 years:
- Our workforce has grown. As noted in the table below, since 1980, the workforce has increased by 60 million workers, and the number of women in the workforce has nearly doubled. Despite a workforce that has significantly increased in the last few decades, the agency’s funding has remained stagnant.
- Workers have filed more charges. If workers believe they have been discriminated against or harassed at work, they can file a charge with the EEOC to request the agency take action. In 1981, the agency received 56,228 charges from the private sector. By 2024, that number jumped by nearly 60 percent to 88,531 charges. Funding for the agency did not increase to respond to increases in charges filed.
- Our laws have expanded. In 1980, the EEOC was enforcing the Equal Pay Act of 1963, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 and Sections 501 and 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. By 2024, the agency was also responsible for enforcing Titles I and V of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act of 2022. With additional laws to enforce, additional charges are filed. For example, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act went into effect in June 2023, and the EEOC received 188 charges filed by workers. In 2024, the number of charges quickly soared to 2,729. However, even with the additional responsibility, the EEOC’s funding was not increased.
Despite Increased Need, Chronic Underfunding Has Led to Low Staffing, Limiting the Number of Civil Rights Enforcers
Due to limited funding, the EEOC is facing historically low staff levels. At the end of fiscal year 1980, the EEOC had 3,390 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff. At the end of fiscal year 2024, that number was down to 2,246. This understaffing significantly undermines the agency’s ability to help workers.
When a worker files a charge of discrimination with the EEOC, investigators determine whether there is reasonable cause that workplace discrimination has occurred. But inadequate staffing levels have left investigators with heavy caseloads. According to the former chair of the EEOC, Charlotte Burrows, investigators on average have had 100 cases to investigate, and in some districts, this number is significantly higher. In contrast, investigators in 1990 had 51 cases on average.
Heavy caseloads have led to a backlog of cases; it can take months before an investigator gets to a claim. As noted by EEOC staff, sometimes claimants’ contact information changes before an investigator gets to their case, which can leave an investigator with no way to contact the claimant. As a result, workers may wait a considerable amount of time to get their charges investigated, if at all.
Underfunding the EEOC May Be Contributing to the Widening Gender Wage Gap
Because workplace discrimination is thought to account for 38 percent of the wage gap, underfunding the EEOC may be contributing to the gender wage gap by allowing sex-based discrimination, including sexual harassment, to go unchecked.
According to research, 38 percent of all women experience sexual harassment in the workplace. In 2024, there were 26,872 sex discrimination charges filed with the EEOC, accounting for over 30 percent of all charges. Sex-based discrimination – including sexual harassment – in the workplace not only violates a person but could cause them to quit or seek a reassignment, setting their career back by years. In a 2019 study conducted by the American Association of University Women, 38 percent of participants said sexual harassment was a factor in why they left their jobs, and 37 percent of participants stated that experiencing sexual harassment in workplace hindered their career advancement.
In 2024, for the second consecutive year, the pay gap between full-time working women and their male counterparts has widened. In the face of this alarming trend, EEOC’s enforcement of the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act are critical for addressing the discrimination and harassment that harms women.
Congress Must Provide Robust Funding for the EEOC Moving Forward
Robust funding for the EEOC is needed now more than ever. In the last eight months, the Trump administration has attacked diversity, equity, and inclusion and dismantled civil rights tools that proactively detected discrimination in the workplace. This assault on civil rights could result in an increase in workplace discrimination. This will not only add to investigators caseloads and strain funding but also limit the ability of staff to help workers.
However, Trump has only requested $435.4 million for the EEOC for fiscal year 2026, a decrease of more than $19.6 million from fiscal year 2025’s enacted level. This would leave the agency with 1,767 full-time equivalents – almost 50 percent fewer staff than the agency had in 1980. Trump has also proposed that the EEOC enforce Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act, which would put a further strain on the agency’s already limited resources by adding another legal provision for staff to enforce.
Appropriations bills released by Republican lawmakers in the House mirror the President’s budget request to cut spending for the agency. The Senate bill would maintain funding levels from the previous fiscal year – an effective budget cut due to inflation. As we once again barrel towards a government shutdown, a potential continuing resolution would freeze funding levels, avoiding deep cuts but still leaving the EEOC with a stagnant budget. This would continue a decades-long trend that has resulted in the limited enforcement of workers rights.
Congress must fight for workers’ civil rights and provide the agency with robust funding: at least $488.2 million for fiscal year 2026. Workers, especially women workers, cannot afford another 45 years of an underfunded EEOC.
The authors would like to thank Jessica Mason and Katherine Gallagher Robbins for their contributions.
