WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) — The acting chair of the federal agency that enforces workers rights acknowledged Wednesday that transgender workers are protected under civil rights laws but defended her decision to drop lawsuits on their behalf, saying her agency is not independent and must comply with President Donald Trump's orders.
Andrea Lucas, who was first appointed to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2020 and elevated to chair in January, spoke at her confirmation hearing at the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Her nomination to serve another five-year term as an EEOC commissioner requires Senate confirmation, though whether she stays on as chair will be up to Trump.
Republican senators praised her leadership, especially her commitment to rolling back Biden-era regulations and guidance on gender-identity rights, which Lucas has argued overstepped the EEOC's authority.
Lucas faced questions from Democrats who said she has eroded the traditional independence of the EEOC and acted on the president's whims since Trump fired two of the agency's Democratic commissioners before their terms expired in an unprecedented act.
Lucas, a strident critic of diversity and inclusion programs and proponent of the idea that there are only two immutable sexes, repeatedly declared that the EEOC is not independent and vowed to enthusiastically follow Trump's executive orders. Those include orders aimed at dismantling diversity and programs in the public and private sectors and declaring that the federal government would only recognize the male and female sexes.
“As head of the EEOC, I’m committed to dismantling the identity politics that have plagued our civil rights laws,” Lucas said. "President Trump has given the agency the most ambitious civil rights agenda in decades. If I have the honor of being reconfirmed, I am passionate about achieving that agenda.”
The committee also heard from three Department of Labor nominees: Project 2025 author Jonathan Berry for solicitor; current EEOC Acting General Counsel Andrew Rogers for administrator of the wage and hour division, and former U.S. House Representative Anthony D’Esposito for inspector general.
Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington state, pressed Lucas on the EEOC's dismissal of seven gender identity discrimination lawsuits, asking if it was her decision to drop a California case involving gender nonconforming workers, in which the EEOC had charged that a store manager groped an employee, asked an employee for sex, commented an employee’s breasts, and used sexual profanities
Lucas affirmed it was her decision, alongside consultation with staff, to drop that and six other cases because of Trump's executive order declaring that there are only two biological, immutable sexes.
“It was impossible to both comply with the president’s executive order as an executive branch agency, and also zealously defend the workers we had brought the case on behalf,” she said.
Later in the hearing, Lucas acknowledged that a 2020 Supreme Court ruling “did clearly hold that discriminating against someone on the basis of sex included firing an individual who is transgender or based on their sexual orientation.”
But Lucas, citing confidentiality laws, declined to answer Murray's question about how the EEOC intends to handle discrimination complaints from transgender workers, including an order, first reported by The Associated Press, to classify all new gender identity-related discrimination cases as its lowest priority, essentially deeming them meritless and putting them on hold.
Indiana Republican Sen. Jim Banks welcomed the change in direction at the EEOC, and asked Lucas how the EEOC would combat discrimination against workers who affirm their “common sense” belief that there are two immutable sexes.
Lucas responded by criticizing Biden-era EEOC guidance establishing protections against workplace harassment based on gender identity and sexual orientation.
“There are men and there are women. Full stop,” Lucas said. “I think this is a place where the Biden administration absolutely weaponized the EEOC.”
Committee Chairman Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy said Lucas “has a strong record of protecting workers from discrimination and ensuring the EEOC follows the law as Congress wrote the law.”
The EEOC, the only federal agency empowered to investigate employment discrimination in the private sector, received more than 88,000 charges of workplace discrimination in fiscal year 2024. Created by Congress under the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the EEOC's commissioners are appointed by the president to staggered terms, and no more than three can be from the same party.
Democrats on the Senate committee assailed Trump's dismissals of the EEOC Democratic commissioners as part of the administration’s wider attempts to increase his authority by politicizing agencies long considered to be independent.
Murray reminded Lucas of her own past protestations during the Biden administration that the EEOC was an independent agency. Lucas said she had been mistaken and has changed her mind
Sen. Andy Kim, a Democrat from New Jersey, pushed Lucas on far she would go to follow Trump's orders, asking if she would obey orders to dismiss or file particular lawsuits against companies. Lucas declined to answer.
“The fact that you are saying that the president is your boss, that you take direction from the president, and the president tells you to dismiss a case, or to go after a particular employer, or to rule in a particular way, I just find that to be a dangerous place for us in our government and our democracy,” Kim said.
Lucas is prioritizing worker rights that conservatives argue have been ignored by the EEOC. That includes investigating company DEI practices, defending the rights of women to same-sex spaces and fighting anti-Christian bias in the workplace.
“I think the American people should be delighted at the idea that President Trump is leading with an amazing vision for civil rights for all Americans,” Lucas said.
This story corrects that Acting EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas said that a Supreme Court ruling in 2020 established that it is illegal to fire a worker based on their transgender status, not that it established that gender identity discrimination is illegal under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
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Jonathan Berry, nominated to be Solicitor, Department of Labor, testifies during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing, Wednesday, June. 18, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
FILE - The emblem of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is shown on a podium in Vail, Colo., Feb. 16, 2016. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
U.S. President Donald Trump says Iran has proposed negotiations after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic as a crackdown on demonstrators has led to hundreds of deaths.
Trump said late Sunday his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act before then as reports of deaths mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“Iran called, they want to negotiate,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One.
Iran did not acknowledge Trump’s comments immediately. It has previously warned the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has accurately reported on past unrest in Iran, said at least 572 people have been killed, including 503 protesters and 69 members of security forces. It said more than 10,600 people have been detained over the two weeks of protests. The group relies on supporters in Iran cross-checking information.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
The Latest:
A senior Turkish official voiced opposition to foreign interventions in Iran, warning that such actions could worsen the country’s crisis.
Omer Celik, spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party, acknowledged on Monday that Iran faces internal challenges but stressed they must be resolved through “its own dynamics and the will of the state.”
“We would never wish for any chaos to emerge in our neighbor Iran,” Celik said, adding that outside interference would only produce “worse outcomes.”
He cautioned that regional instability could escalate further if external involvement is driven by what he described as “Israeli provocations.”
Video circulating online purports to show dozens of bodies in a morgue on the outskirts of Iran’s capital.
People with knowledge of the facility and the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said Monday that the video shows the Kahrizak Forensic Medicine Center.
People are seen walking by bodies in body bags laid out in a large room, attempting to identify them. Another video, widely shared by activists, purportedly shows people gathered around a television monitor at the morgue, looking at images of corpses’ faces. Outside, people can be heard wailing in grief. The footage matches other images of the facility online.
—- By Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem
A witness told the AP that the streets of Tehran empty at the sunset call to prayers each night.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, addressed “Dear parents,” which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
—- By Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Iran drew tens of thousands of pro-government demonstrators to the streets Monday in a show of power after nationwide protests challenging the country’s theocracy.
Iranian state television showed images of demonstrators thronging Tehran toward Enghelab Square in the capital.
It called the demonstration an “Iranian uprising against American-Zionist terrorism,” without addressing the underlying anger in the country over the nation’s ailing economy. That sparked the protests over two weeks ago.
State television aired images of such demonstrations around the country, trying to signal it had overcome the protests, as claimed by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi earlier in the day.
China says it opposes the use of force in international relations and expressed hope the Iranian government and people are “able to overcome the current difficulties and maintain national stability.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Monday that Beijing “always opposes interference in other countries’ internal affairs, maintains that the sovereignty and security of all countries should be fully protected under international law, and opposes the use or threat of use of force in international relations.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz condemned “in the strongest terms the violence that the leadership in Iran is directing against its own people.”
He said it was a sign of weakness rather than strength, adding that “this violence must end.”
Merz said during a visit to India that the demonstrators deserve “the greatest respect” for the courage with which “they are resisting the disproportional, brutal violence of Iranian security forces.”
He said: “I call on the Iranian leadership to protect its population rather than threatening it.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman on Monday suggested that a channel remained open with the United States.
Esmail Baghaei made the comment during a news conference in Tehran.
“It is open and whenever needed, through that channel, the necessary messages are exchanged,” he said.
However, Baghaei said such talks needed to be “based on the acceptance of mutual interests and concerns, not a negotiation that is one-sided, unilateral and based on dictation.”
The semiofficial Fars news agency in Iran, which is close to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, on Monday began calling out Iranian celebrities and leaders on social media who have expressed support for the protests over the past two weeks, especially before the internet was shut down.
The threat comes as writers and other cultural leaders were targeted even before protests. The news agency highlighted specific celebrities who posted in solidarity with the protesters and scolded them for not condemning vandalism and destruction to public property or the deaths of security forces killed during clashes. The news agency accused those celebrities and leaders of inciting riots by expressing their support.
Canada said it “stands with the brave people of Iran” in a statement on social media that strongly condemned the killing of protesters during widespread protests that have rocked the country over the past two weeks.
“The Iranian regime must halt its horrific repression and intimidation and respect the human rights of its citizens,” Canada’s government said on Monday.
Iran’s foreign minister claimed Monday that “the situation has come under total control” after a bloody crackdown on nationwide protests in the country.
Abbas Araghchi offered no evidence for his claim.
Araghchi spoke to foreign diplomats in Tehran. The Qatar-funded Al Jazeera satellite news network, which has been allowed to work despite the internet being cut off in the country, carried his remarks.
Iran’s foreign minister alleged Monday that nationwide protests in his nation “turned violent and bloody to give an excuse” for U.S. President Donald Trump to intervene.
Abbas Araghchi offered no evidence for his claim, which comes after over 500 have been reported killed by activists -- the vast majority coming from demonstrators.
Araghchi spoke to foreign diplomats in Tehran. The Qatar-funded Al Jazeera satellite news network, which has been allowed to work despite the internet being cut off in the country, carried his remarks.
Iran has summoned the British ambassador over protesters twice taking down the Iranian flag at their embassy in London.
Iranian state television also said Monday that it complained about “certain terrorist organization that, under the guise of media, spread lies and promote violence and terrorism.” The United Kingdom is home to offices of the BBC’s Persian service and Iran International, both which long have been targeted by Iran.
A huge crowd of demonstrators, some waving the flag of Iran, gathered Sunday afternoon along Veteran Avenue in LA’s Westwood neighborhood to protest against the Iranian government. Police eventually issued a dispersal order, and by early evening only about a hundred protesters were still in the area, ABC7 reported.
Los Angeles is home to the largest Iranian community outside of Iran.
Los Angeles police responded Sunday after somebody drove a U-Haul box truck down a street crowded with the demonstrators, causing protesters to scramble out of the way and then run after the speeding vehicle to try to attack the driver. A police statement said one person was hit by the truck but nobody was seriously hurt.
The driver, a man who was not identified, was detained “pending further investigation,” police said in a statement Sunday evening.
Shiite Muslims hold placards and chant slogans during a protest against the U.S. and show solidarity with Iran in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Activists carrying a photograph of Reza Pahlavi take part in a rally supporting protesters in Iran at Lafayette Park, across from the White House, in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Activists take part in a rally supporting protesters in Iran at Lafayette Park, across from the White House in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Protesters burn the Iranian national flag during a rally in support of the nationwide mass demonstrations in Iran against the government in Paris, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
