Senate Votes to Confirm Jocelyn Samuels as EEOC Commissioner

WASHINGTON – Today the U.S. Senate voted to confirm Jocelyn Samuels, by a vote of 52-47, to serve a second term as a Commissioner of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Samuels was first nominated by President Donald Trump on March 16, 2020 and was confirmed on September 23, 2020 to serve as Commissioner for a term expiring July 1, 2021. After naming Samuels Vice Chair on January 20, 2021, President Joseph Biden nominated her for a second term on April 12, 2021. She was voted favorably (14-8) out of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee on May 12.

Samuels’ term now lasts until 2026 and she will continue to serve as Vice Chair on the presidentially appointed bipartisan Commission, along with Chair Charlotte A. Burrows, Commissioner Janet Dhillon, Commissioner Keith E. Sonderling, and Commissioner Andrea R. Lucas.

“I’m delighted that Jocelyn Samuels was confirmed to serve another term at the EEOC,” said EEOC Chair Charlotte A. Burrows. “She is a wonderful colleague and has already made important contributions to the agency since joining the EEOC. I am confident that she will be a tremendous asset to our mission in the years to come.”

Samuels said, “I’m honored and grateful to be able to continue to serve at the EEOC. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues in both parties to advance the mission of the agency. It is more important now than ever for our country to work to eradicate employment discrimination, and the EEOC must use all the tools at its disposal to enforce and realize the promise of our civil rights laws.”

Prior to joining the EEOC, Samuels was executive director of the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law. During the Obama Administration, Samuels served as director of the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and served as acting assistant attorney general for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Justice. Earlier in her career, she worked as a senior policy attorney at the EEOC, as labor counsel to Senator Edward M. Kennedy, and as vice president for Education and Employment at the National Women’s Law Center in Washington, D.C. She is a graduate of Middlebury College and Columbia University Law School.

The EEOC advances opportunity in the workplace by enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.