Fiscal Year 2027 Congressional Budget Justification

Table of Contents

Introduction

A. Chair’s Message

The Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2022–2026

I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Overview of Request

Chart 1: FY 2027 Expenses by Category

Table 1: Total Agency Funding Profile by Strategic Goals and Programs for FYs 2025 through 2027

Table 2: Budget Request Summary for Strategic Application of Law Enforcement Authorities

II. APPROPRIATIONS LANGUAGE

III. OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL

IV. AGENCY SUMMARY REQUIREMENTS BY OBJECT CLASS

Table 3: Agency Summary Requirements by Object Class

V.  HIGHLIGHTED RESOURCE CHANGES

Table 4: Analysis of Change

VI. PROGRAM AREAS

1. Private Sector Enforcement

Table 5: Private Sector Enforcement Program Workload Table

Chart 2: Private Sector Pending Charges

Table 6: Charges Filed by Statute

Chart 3: Private Sector Enforcement Program Mediations

Table 7: State, Local, and Tribal Programs

Table 8: FEPA Workload Projections

2. Federal Sector Programs

Table 9: Hearings Workload Projections

Chart 4: Federal Sector Hearings Workload

Table 10: Appeals Workload Projections

Chart 5: Federal Sector Appeals Workload

VII. OUTREACH

Table 11: Annual Outreach Events – Fee and Non-Fee

Non-Fee Based Outreach

Table 12: Budget Request Summary Through Outreach

Fee-based (Revolving Fund – Education, Technical Assistance, and Training)

Table 13: Summary of Financing for the Revolving Fund

VIII. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY – DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Table 14: Information Technology FY 2025 to FY 2027

AI Development

Infrastructure Modernization

Strategic Investment in Mission Systems

IX. ADMINISTRATIVE PROGRAM AREAS

Table 15: Human Resources

1. Human Resources

2. Finance and Administration

X. VERIFICATION AND VALIDATION OF DATA

XI. PROGRAM EVALUATIONS

XII. ADMINISTRATION AND SUPPORT

A. Freedom of Information Act Workload

Table 17: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

B. GINA Study Commission

APPENDIX A: EVALUATION AND EVIDENCE

APPENDIX B: ENTERPRISE RISK MANAGEMENT

APPENDIX C: AGENCY RESPONSES TO PL 115-414 GOOD ACCOUNTING OBLIGATION IN GOVERNMENT ACT (GAO-IG Act)

Introduction

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC or Commission) is the leading federal law enforcement agency dedicated to preventing and remedying unlawful employment discrimination and advancing equal opportunity for all. The Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Budget requests $455,450,000 for the EEOC. This total includes up to $32,000,000 to compensate state and local fair employment practice agencies (FEPAs) for investigatory and other charge-related work performed pursuant to work-sharing agreements between the FEPAs and the EEOC, as well as funding for tribal employment rights offices (TEROs) which assist the EEOC with outreach and education for tribal members. The EEOC’s total budget request reflects an increase of $20,068,000 above the FY 2026 enacted funding level of $435,382,000. 

The EEOC enforces the following laws:

• Equal Pay Act of 1963 (included in the Fair Labor Standards Act) (EPA), as amended, which prohibits sex discrimination in the payment of wages to men and women performing substantially equal work in the same establishment.
• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), as amended, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.
• Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), as amended, which prohibits employment discrimination against workers who are 40 years of age and older.
• Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 (PDA), which amended Title VII to clarify that discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions constitutes sex discrimination and requires employers to treat workers affected by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions the same as any other employees with temporary disabilities with respect to terms and conditions of employment, including health benefits.
• Titles I and V of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), as amended, which prohibit employment discrimination based on disability by private, state, and local government employers, and requires those employers to reasonably accommodate the known physical or mental limitations of an applicant or employee who is an otherwise qualified individual with a disability, unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the operation of the employer’s business.
• Sections 501 and 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Rehabilitation Act), as amended, provide the same protections as the ADA for federal employees and applicants for federal employment.
• Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA), which prohibits employment discrimination based on an applicant’s or employee’s genetic table information (including family medical history).
• Pregnant Workers Fairness Act of 2022 (PWFA), which requires employers to reasonably accommodate qualified workers’ known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, absent undue hardship.

Together, these laws protect individuals from employment discrimination (including unlawful harassment) based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, and genetic information. They also make it illegal to retaliate against a person for opposing employment discrimination, filing a charge of discrimination, or participating in an investigation or lawsuit regarding employment discrimination. Title VII, the ADA, Rehabilitation Act, and the PWFA require employers to provide reasonable accommodation based on religion, disability, or pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, respectively, absent undue hardship. Finally, provisions in the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and GINA strictly limit covered entities from obtaining health-related information from applicants and employees and require that any genetic or medical information a covered entity has about an applicant or employee be kept confidential.

A. Chair’s Message

I am pleased to present the FY 2027 Congressional Budget Justification for the work of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC or the Commission) to advance equal employment opportunity.

The EEOC was created by Congress as part of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and chartered with a straightforward and critical mission: to prevent and remedy discrimination in our nation’s workplaces. For 60 years, the Commission has carried out this vital responsibility with the knowledge that it stems from our nation’s foundational principles—that all people are inherently created equal and that all citizens are entitled to equal treatment under the law—and that the promise of America is not rendered null upon entering the workplace.

Equality of opportunity upholds the dignity of the American worker as an individual and protects their right to be judged not by their membership in any particular race or group, but rather by their merit and character. The vision at the heart of the American founding was the recognition of each individual’s inalienable rights and inherent worth, not determined by background, group identity, or social status.

In recent years, a range of movements and institutions have worked aggressively to erode America’s core principles, seeking to replace them with ideologies that prioritize group identity over individual freedom. These efforts promote “equity” in outcomes rather than equality of opportunity, bending civil rights laws to advantage certain groups while sidelining others and discarding the principle of fair and evenhanded enforcement. Some advocates even justify present or future discrimination as not only acceptable but as a so-called remedy for past injustices. Such ideas have spread through our nation’s institutions—from universities to corporate boardrooms to the halls of Congress—where they have grown increasingly entrenched and have driven employers to embrace unlawful practices, including quota-based or other racially motivated DEI initiatives, sex-based favoritism, and hostility toward religious expression.

Throughout the first year of the second Trump Administration, the EEOC has demonstrated that it is both capable and resolute in repelling these assaults on our nation’s core principles. Under my leadership, the Commission has undertaken comprehensive efforts to realign with its founding mission and to restore the evenhanded enforcement of civil rights laws on behalf of all Americans. Guided by President Trump’s commitment to restoring dignity to the American worker and by his landmark civil rights executive orders, the EEOC has mobilized every available resource to ensure that America’s workforce can once again thrive under the protection of a government steadfast in its duty to eliminate the discriminatory practices we have uncovered across both the private and public sectors.

In FY 2027, the EEOC will continue to advance this important work by confronting race-based discrimination in all its forms, including employment practices tied to DEI initiatives and programs, while also protecting American workers from unlawful national origin discrimination that places foreign workers ahead of Americans. The agency will make safeguarding women’s rights a priority through defending women’s rights to single-sex spaces at work related to privacy, safety, and other biological considerations and to use language which reflects science and reality, as well as through strong enforcement of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. The agency also will further defend religious liberty by addressing unlawful bias against people of faith, building on recent landmark victories across industries.

At the same time, the Commission will emphasize prevention through expanded outreach and education and will modernize its operations by adopting new technologies, improving internal processes, and refining its structure to ensure the agency remains effective, efficient, and fully committed to serving all Americans.

This budget equips the agency with the resources needed to advance President Trump’s civil rights agenda and to uphold the promise of equal opportunity in the American workplace.

Sincerely,

Andrea R. Lucas 

Chair

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

The Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2022–2026

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2022–2026 (Strategic Plan or Plan) establishes a framework for achieving the EEOC’s mission. The Commission approved the EEOC’s Strategic Plan on August 16, 2023, by a majority vote of the Commission. The Strategic Plan is posted publicly at https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc-strategic-plan-2022-2026[1]

The current Strategic Plan sets out three Strategic Goals:

I.  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Overview of Request

The FY 2027 Budget request seeks total funding of $455,450,000. This total includes up to $32,000,000 to compensate state and local FEPAs for investigatory and other charge-related work performed pursuant to work-sharing agreements between the FEPAs and the EEOC, as well as funding for TEROs which assist the EEOC with outreach and education for tribal members. The agency’s request reflects an increase of $20,068,000 above the FY 2026 enacted funding level of $435,382,000. The FY 2027 request represents the level of funding required to allow the agency to backfill key, targeted roles in its enforcement and litigation programs in order to handle the significant demand for the EEOC’s law enforcement services. The request will allow the agency to fully fund agency programs and proposed FY 2027 initiatives, to continue mission-critical activities that support Administration priorities, and to further leverage technology across agency functions.

Chart 1: FY 2027 Expenses by Category

(Dollars in thousands*)

Table 1 below depicts the EEOC’s total agency funding profile.

Table 1: Total Agency Funding Profile by Strategic Goals and Programs for FYs 2025 through 2027.
FY 2025 to FY 2027
(Dollars in thousands*)

*May not add due to rounding.

** Includes 14 full-time equivalent (FTE) Reimbursable from the Revolving Fund.

Table 2: Budget Request Summary for Strategic Application of 
Law Enforcement Authorities
FY 2025 to FY 2027
(Dollars in thousands*) 

* May not add due to rounding.

II.   APPROPRIATIONS LANGUAGE

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Salaries and Expenses

For necessary expenses of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as authorized by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended (42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq.), or any other law that Congress has authorized the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to administer, enforce, or implement; services as authorized by section 3109 of title 5, United States Code; hire of passenger motor vehicles as authorized by section 1343(b) of title 31, United States Code; non-monetary awards to private citizens, $455,450,000, of which up to $32,000,000 shall be for payments to State, Local, and Tribal enforcement agencies for authorized services to the Commission and of which $2,510,000 shall be for the Office of the Inspector General: Provided, that the Commission is authorized to make available for official reception and representation expenses not to exceed $2,250 from available funds: Provided further, that the Chair is authorized to accept and use any gift or donation to carry out the work of the Commission.

III.   OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL

The EEOC is covered by the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended (U.S.C. App), and the table below provides the following information under the Inspector General Reform Act of 2008 (Pub. L. No. 110-409): an aggregate request for the Office of Inspector General (OIG), including training and amounts in support of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE).

IV.  ​AGENCY SUMMARY REQUIREMENTS BY OBJECT CLASS

Table 3 below shows the changes in the EEOC’s object class funding over three fiscal years.

Table 3: Agency Summary Requirements by Object Class 
FY 2025 to FY 2027
(Dollars in thousands)

V.  HIGHLIGHTED RESOURCE CHANGES

The Analysis of Change, Table 4, below indicates the material changes between the EEOC’s request for FY 2026 and request for FY 2027.

Table 4: Analysis of Change 
FY 2027
(Dollars in thousands) 

*FY 2027 Compensation and Benefits (C&B) reflect agency estimates as of January 2026. The estimate reflects a pay freeze for civilian employees in calendar year 2027; employee performance awards – $4.883M.

**FY 2027 information technology estimate includes $450k to cover EEOC’s contribution to OPM’s effort to consolidate Core Human Capital Management Systems government-wide.

VI.   PROGRAM AREAS

1.      Private Sector Enforcement

Customer Service

The EEOC’s Information Intake Group (IIG) plays a critical role in enabling the EEOC to provide quality public service to the very high volume of individuals and entities that seek the EEOC’s assistance on a daily basis. The IIG ensures that members of the public understand how the federal employment discrimination laws impact a caller’s particular circumstances and know their rights and responsibilities under those laws.

During FY 2025, the IIG received approximately 537,000 calls to its 1-800 number, 94,600 emails, and 900 ASL Video Phone calls. This was a decrease of over 16,000 calls to the toll-free number and an increase of over 4,000 emails. Based on historical increases in the number of contacts to the IIG since FY 2020, the EEOC anticipates that in FY 2027, the number of calls from the public to its 1-800 number and general email address will continue to exceed 630,000.

FY 2027 funding will allow the IIG to address the increasingly high public demand for service. The work of the IIG allows the EEOC field and headquarters offices to allocate the resources that would otherwise be spent on responding to a high volume of public inquiries directly toward law enforcement activities.

Management of the Charge Workload to Enforce the Nation’s Federal Workplace Anti-Discrimination Laws

Consistent with the President’s Executive Orders and policy priorities, the EEOC’s enforcement staff conducts important civil law enforcement work, including rooting out unlawful race and sex discrimination, such as discrimination which relates to or arises from DEI programs, practices, and policies; protecting American workers from anti-American national origin discrimination; defending the immutable, binary nature of biological sex and women’s rights to single-sex spaces at work; and protecting workers from religious bias and harassment, including, but not limited to, antisemitism and anti-Christian bias; along with combatting other forms of unlawful discrimination pursuant to the statutes that the EEOC enforces. Funding in FY 2027 will allow staff to continue to develop, investigate, and resolve meritorious charges of discrimination. The requested funding will also allow the agency to improve technological efficiencies in carrying out the EEOC’s statutorily required law enforcement work while providing enhanced customer service to the public, including shorter wait times for interviews, efficient in-person appointments, and more timely investigations.

The agency continues to focus on multi-pronged efforts to ensure that the private sector charge inventory is managed efficiently, and that staff provide quality services to charging parties and respondents. The EEOC is also focusing agency resources on Administration priority issues and on specific charges that enable the agency to have the greatest impact on workplace discrimination. The EEOC will continue to develop innovative approaches and invest in systems to serve the public more effectively and to advance the agency’s mission of preventing and remedying unlawful employment discrimination.

Table 5 below depicts the actual workload for private sector enforcement for FYs 2023 through 2025 and the projected workloads for FY 2026 and 2027.

Table 5: Private Sector Enforcement Program Workload Table 
FY 2023 to FY 2027 

Category	FY 2023 Actual	FY 2024 Actual	FY 2025 Actual	FY 2026 Estimate*	FY 2027 Estimate*
Receipts	81,055	88,531	88,201	88,201	88,201
Resolutions	81,180	87,219	90,743	93,468	100,005

*Estimates have been revised to reflect more current assumptions.

Chart 2 shows actual pending inventory of discrimination charges at fiscal year-end for FYs 2023 through 2025 and projected pending year-end charge inventories for FYs 2026 and 2027.

Chart 2: Private Sector Pending Charges 
FY 2023 to FY 2027

*Estimates have been revised to reflect more current assumptions.

Table 6 details private sector charges received by statute for FYs 2023 through 2025 and the projected charge receipts by statute for FYs 2026 and FY 2027.

Table 6: Charges Filed by Statute 
FY 2023 to FY 2027

*Totals do not reflect issues/bases filed under more than one statute.

**Totals for all charges do not equal the sum of all statutes because many charge filings allege issues/bases under more than one statute.

Mediation Program

A key component of the Commission’s enforcement strategy is the strategic use of alternate dispute resolution (ADR) early in the charge process to resolve discrimination charges. ADR supports the EEOC’s enforcement program by focusing on early resolution through mediation, thus reducing the number of cases that are fully investigated. The ADR program continues to be effective in timely resolving charges of discrimination. In FY 2025, the EEOC’s ADR program held 11,346 mediations, successfully resolved 7,929 charges (a 70 percent success rate), and obtained almost $245.3 million in benefits to workers.

Ensuring adequate funding to maintain the EEOC’s ADR efforts provides a way to efficiently manage the EEOC’s charge inventory. These efforts result in outstanding service to the public, resolution for the charging party, and allow enforcement staff to focus efforts on investigating and resolving alleged discrimination charges.

Chart 3 reflects the total mediations held in FYs 2023 through 2025 and projections for FYs 2026 and 2027.

Chart 3: Private Sector Enforcement Program Mediations 
FY 2023 to FY 2027

State, Local, and Tribal Programs

Table 7: State, Local, and Tribal Programs 
FY 2025 to FY 2027
(Dollars in thousands) 

The EEOC requests $32,000,000 to maintain the EEOC’s relationship with the FEPAs and TEROs and to fund them at performance levels most beneficial to the EEOC and agency priorities. Each year, the agency reimburses its FEPA partners for investigatory and other charge-related work performed under the authority of Title VII and the Procedural Regulations (29 C.F.R. §1601 et seq.) pursuant to work-sharing agreements and funding contracts between the EEOC and the FEPAs.

The FEPAs help the EEOC resolve charges of employment discrimination and prevent duplication of effort, resulting in a more efficient use of resources for both the EEOC and the FEPAs. With the requested level of support for FY 2027, the agency expects FEPAs to resolve at least 34,550 charges and process approximately 2,300 engagements conducting intake services for the EEOC. FEPA resolutions are in addition to the charges the EEOC resolves directly. Effective coordination with our FEPA partners is a critical component of the agency’s private sector enforcement efforts and includes mechanisms such as work-sharing agreements to encourage FEPA support of agency priorities. During FY 2025, the EEOC provided technical, charge-related training and guidance to FEPAs on a range of topics including charge processing and other technical discussions. The requested FY 2027 funding will enable the EEOC to reimburse FEPAs for work completed, as well as charge-related training, outreach, and education opportunities necessary for the FEPAs to conduct their work.

In FY 2025, the agency also worked to strengthen connection with TEROs. The EEOC engaged a joint EEOC/TERO Committee for feedback and counsel on several topics, including best practices for reaching and informing tribal communities about their employment protections and responsibilities. The EEOC provided TEROs with training on substantive topics, as well as other practical information and conducted training on tribal lands. The proposed FY 2027 funding will enable the agency to continue to enhance our work and outreach to tribal communities—in particular, to those in remote areas with limited technological connectivity.

Table 8 below shows the actual FEPA receipts, total resolutions, and pending inventory for FY 2023 through FY 2025, and projections for FY 2026 and FY 2027.

Table 8: FEPA Workload Projections 
FY 2023 to FY 2027 

Systemic Program

The EEOC’s systemic program investigates large and often complex discrimination charges with potential to broadly impact an industry, profession, company, or geographic location. This mission-critical program is a highly efficient and effective strategy to bring about significant changes to unlawful workplace practices and to prevent discrimination from recurring on a large scale. Many of the charges and investigations addressing Administration priority matters may involve allegations of systemic intentional discrimination.

In FY 2025 the systemic program successfully resolved 444 investigations and obtained over $55 million in monetary benefits for 1,823 workers subjected to discrimination—reflecting a 20% increase in the number of resolutions and an approximately 115% increase in monetary benefits as compared to FY 2024. The agency secured targeted, equitable relief in nearly 100 percent of successful systemic conciliations. Despite losing a quorum in January and thus the ability to file systemic litigation, the agency filed six lawsuits challenging a variety of types of systemic discrimination during the first four months of FY 2025. In FY 2025, the agency resolved 13 systemic suits, obtaining over $10.8 million for 2,282 aggrieved individuals and significant equitable relief, and achieving a 100 percent success rate in its systemic case resolutions. At the end of FY 2025, 21 percent of the EEOC’s active district court docket of merits cases involved challenges to systemic discrimination.

The systemic team in the field is on the frontline of the Chair’s focus on multiple Administration priorities, including rooting out unlawful DEI-motivated race and sex discrimination; protecting workers from religious bias and harassment, including antisemitism and anti-Christian bias; and protecting American workers from anti-American national origin bias and preferences for foreign workers. Many DEI cases are systemic by their nature, often involving patterns, practices, or policies of intentional discrimination involving race-based or gender-based company- and industry-wide programs, policies, and initiatives, and related employment actions. Likewise, antisemitism cases often involve a class of workers who have endured egregious harassment and retaliation in a broad range of public and private employment industries, particularly elite universities and colleges and other educational entities. To that end, the systemic team resolved several EEOC charges filed against Columbia University, including a Commissioner Charge filed by Chair Lucas. Resolution of these investigations resulted in a public settlement that provided $21 million in monetary relief to current and former employees who were subjected to antisemitic harassment and retaliation. This resolution represents the largest EEOC public settlement in nearly 20 years for any form of discrimination or harassment, as well as the most significant EEOC settlement for workers of any faith or religion. For more information, see https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/largest-eeoc-public-settlement-almost-20-years-columbia-university-agrees-pay-21-million.

In addition, the agency has renewed its efforts to remedy large-scale violations of religious accommodation rights stemming from government and corporate COVID-19 vaccine mandates, which significantly harmed the rights of large classes of Christian workers and workers of other faiths who hold religious beliefs that conflicted with the mandates.

These efforts resulted in millions for workers who were denied a religious accommodation or were impacted by a vaccine mandate, along with significant changes to employer policies and practices to ensure that employers do not unlawfully infringe on the religious rights and beliefs of employees at work. For more information about significant enforcement actions EEOC took in the first 200 days of the Trump Administration to defend the religious liberty of American workers, see https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/200-days-eeoc-action-protect-religious-freedom-work.

Furthermore, the agency heightened its focus on protecting American workers from anti-American national origin discrimination. This focus builds on the agency’s systemic case experience by successfully investigating large-scale, company- and industry-wide preferences for foreign workers at the expense of large multi-racial groups of American workers.

It is critically important to continue to educate and inform the EEOC’s field staff of these emerging and ongoing issues in order to combat systemic harassment, eliminate barriers in hiring and recruitment, recognize potential patterns of discrimination, and examine and analyze these often large or complex investigations effectively. In FY 2025, the EEOC continued to provide training to all field staff on identifying and investigating systemic discrimination, and for two consecutive years, well over 90 percent of all investigators and trial attorneys participated in systemic training. With proposed FY 2027 funding, the EEOC plans to conduct mid- and advanced-level training for field staff and assist them in developing class investigations, data requests, and data analyses for pattern and practice disparate treatment cases. The agency plans to increase its capacity to investigate systemic cases more effectively to enable the agency to achieve its goals and priorities efficiently.

Litigation

The Commission’s litigation program serves a vital role in conducting litigation on behalf of the Commission and providing legal advice and other investigation support to the agency’s enforcement staff. The Commission prioritizes cases with the potential to impact multiple American workplaces or large groups of applicants or employees, as well as on emerging issues where the agency’s expertise may be especially critical to achieving a successful outcome. The litigation program also focuses on categories of charging parties and claims where there may be under-enforcement by the private bar of violations of anti-discrimination laws and on geographic locations where individuals have minimal access to the legal system to protect their rights.

In FY 2025, the Commission’s litigation program achieved 120 employment discrimination lawsuit resolutions for a total monetary recovery of approximately $27 million, which benefitted an estimated 2,505 victims of discrimination. The Commission also filed 94 new employment discrimination suits in FY 2025, as well as 13 subpoena enforcement actions.

As of the end of FY 2025, the Commission was actively litigating 180 employment discrimination lawsuits, including 37 alleging systemic discrimination and another 44 alleging discrimination against a class. While these figures represent a robust and energetic federal court law enforcement program, the pipeline of important litigation matters is larger still. This budget request will enable the agency to bring and win significant litigation actions focused on core Administration priorities.

From January 2025 through the end of FY 2025, the agency lacked a quorum of Commissioners necessary to initiate the filing of non-routine merits litigation matters. In the interim, the agency robustly initiated merits litigation on routine matters which can be filed without a quorum, much of which consists of smaller-scale religious liberty litigation. In particular, the EEOC filed ten lawsuits alleging religious discrimination in FY 2025—including failure to provide religious accommodation to employer vaccine mandate policies—in a variety of workplace settings, including healthcare, construction, hospitality, and manufacturing.

The agency also resolved a significant national origin discrimination lawsuit involving foreign worker preferences which was authorized prior to the loss of a quorum. In EEOC v. LeoPalace Guam Corporation, Case No.1:25-cv-00004 (D. Guam consent decree entered Feb. 19, 2025), the agency alleged a major hotel and resort on the U.S. territory of Guam violated Title VII’s prohibition on national origin discrimination when it provided non-Japanese employees—including multiple employees of American national origin—in Guam with less favorable wages, benefits, and terms and conditions of employment compared to employees from Japan who held equal or lesser positions. Under the three-year consent decree resolving the litigation, the employer agreed to pay over $1.4 million and to implement comprehensive injunctive relief.

In addition, the agency has filed multiple subpoena enforcement actions in court to obtain information relevant to ongoing investigations. See, e.g.,

• EEOC v. Vallarta Food Enterprises, Inc., et al., Case No. 2:25-mc-00058 (C.D. Cal. enforcement order granted Dec. 3, 2025) defendants, a supermarket chain with more than 80 locations, required by court to produce data for agency investigation into unlawful hiring practices used to exclude non-Hispanic individuals from employment.
• EEOC v. Northwestern Mutual, Case No. 2:25-mc-00053 (E.D. Wis. filed Nov. 21, 2025) subpoena enforcement action against financial services firm to obtain information about the firm’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies and practices, related to the firm’s decision to deny a promotion to one of its compliance officers.

Many of the agency’s Administration priority matters are still in the investigation stage, primarily due to their nature (systemic, size or expense, or shifts in prior Commission priorities), but the restoration of a Commission quorum in November 2025 will now permit consideration and approval of litigation on such matters where statutorily required conciliation fails. This pipeline of priority matter investigations includes potential litigation vehicles addressing race or sex discrimination arising from DEI policies, programs, and practices; large-scale national origin matters involving foreign-worker preferences at the expense of American workers; systemic antisemitism hostile work environment lawsuits against university employers and other employers; and large-scale COVID-19 vaccine mandate litigation, among other litigation priorities. Enforcing Administration priorities in the federal courts, consistent with Presidential directives to the agency, on these significant, complex, large-scale matters will be resource intensive.

For example, under the President’s Executive Order 14173, the EEOC is charged with robustly enforcing civil rights cases involving workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, programs, or practices that violate Title VII’s prohibitions on discrimination based on race, sex, or other protected characteristics. Litigating these cases often will require expert witnesses and the discovery of large-scale selection data to identify aggrieved individuals and support the existence and extent of a pattern or practice of discrimination alongside non-statistical evidence of such a pattern or practice (including direct statements, written policies, the terms of race- and sex-restricted DEI-related programs and privileges of employment, and anecdotal evidence). Given the pattern of which entities were the most egregious violators of Title VII via DEI-related race and sex discrimination, these cases will often be against elite institutions, ranging from Fortune 500 companies to top universities, with substantial budgets for aggressive legal defense.

The agency also anticipates it will file lawsuits relating to claims of workplace discrimination based on national origin and religion arising in backlash to the October 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attack in Israel, including specifically cases addressing “the unprecedented wave of vile anti-Semitic discrimination, vandalism, and violence against our citizens, especially in our schools and on our campuses,” pursuant to the President’s Executive Order 14188, Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism. The agency expects that such suits will be met with vigorous defenses by well-resourced law firms, and this budget will provide the resources necessary to overcome such defenses.

In addition, the agency anticipates an uptick in its litigation filings involving claims of unlawful denial of reasonable accommodation for pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions as the receipt of charges under the PWFA continues to increase. At the close of FY 2025, the agency had already filed twelve PWFA lawsuits since the statute’s June 2023 effective date. Litigation can be expected to climb during FY 2027 as we enter the fourth year of enforcement.

As the litigation docket expands to address these priorities and trends, the agency’s litigation expenses will increase to cover costs of depositions, expert witness contracts, and litigation support expenses, including eDiscovery. The increasing complexity of civil rights litigation, particularly in the digital age, has led to a marked rise in the volume and cost of eDiscovery. The identification, preservation, collection, and review of electronically stored information (ESI) are now essential components of modern litigation. These processes are resource-intensive and require specialized tools and expertise, especially in cases involving large-scale data sets or complex employment practices. To meet these demands, the EEOC must continue investing in litigation technology, including AI-assisted tools and infrastructure that support efficient case development and trial readiness.

Importantly, the agency must keep pace with private law firms that are rapidly adopting advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), to streamline litigation and discovery processes. These firms are leveraging AI to accelerate document review, identify key evidence, and develop litigation strategies with unprecedented speed and precision. To remain an effective enforcer of civil rights laws, the agency must invest in comparable tools and training to ensure parity in the courtroom and to avoid being technologically outmatched.

Overall, in FY 2027, the resources requested will permit us to continue filing lawsuits to remedy discrimination on prioritized issues and to ensure sufficient resources to maintain a strong law enforcement litigation program. A credible likelihood that the Commission will pursue cases in court strongly incentivizes voluntary compliance across employers long before the threat of a lawsuit becomes necessary.

2.      Federal Sector Programs

Under the laws enforced by the Commission, Congress and the President gave the EEOC oversight responsibility over equal employment opportunity (EEO) programs in the federal government to ensure equality of workplace opportunity and to enforce the nation’s laws prohibiting employment discrimination for the nearly 2.1 million people who have dedicated their careers to public service.

Federal Sector Enforcement Activities

The EEOC enforces statutes prohibiting employment discrimination in the federal workplace and requiring federal agencies to establish equal employment opportunity programs for all federal employees and job applicants. The EEOC has adjudicatory responsibilities in the federal EEO complaints process as well as oversight responsibilities to ensure agencies are compliant with the Commission’s regulations, decisions, policies, and directives.

The EEOC strives to ensure the federal government is the leader in establishing a workplace that is non-discriminatory and merit based. Concurrently with these efforts, federal agencies must position themselves to attract, develop, and retain a highly qualified workforce that can deliver results. Equal opportunity in the federal workplace is key to accomplishing this goal.

Federal Sector Improvements - Hearings

The EEOC’s federal sector hearings program provides federal sector complainants in individual and class action claims with a full, fair, and impartial adjudication of EEO complaints by an EEOC Administrative Judge (AJ).

In FY 2025, the Commission received 7,175 hearing requests and the federal sector hearings program resolved a total of 6,178 complaints, with a focus on balancing the resolution of older cases and incoming cases. Table 9 details the hearings workload for FYs 2023 through 2025 and the estimated hearings workload for FYs 2026 and FY 2027.

Table 9: Hearings Workload Projections 
FY 2023 to FY 2027 

*Pending end inventory adjusted to reflect activity spanning FYs.

**Admin. Judges Assigned and Available projections were updated 3/11/2026 for FY 2026 and outyears based on current staffing levels.

In FY 2026 and FY 2027, the federal sector program area will focus on individual and class case management; increasing ADR resources at the national level; improving communication and modernizing technology resources; providing additional internal and external training; and continuing to operate an effective, efficient, and well-coordinated national program.

Chart 4 demonstrates the workload and number of AJs assigned to handle complaint hearings for FYs 2023 through 2025, and projections for FYs 2026 and 2027.

Chart 4: Federal Sector Hearings Workload 
FY 2023 to FY 2027

*Admin. Judges Assigned and Available projections were updated 3/11/2026 for FY 2026 and outyears based on current staffing levels.

Federal Sector Appeals Programs

The EEOC’s federal sector appellate program adjudicates appeals from federal agency final decisions on employment discrimination complaints by federal employees—including appeals following a decision by an EEOC AJ—and ensures agency compliance with orders issued on those appeals. The EEOC also adjudicates appeals from decisions made in federal collective bargaining agreement grievances alleging employment discrimination, reviews decisions by the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) addressing allegations of discrimination, and decides appeals on actions originating under Section 304 of the Government Employee Rights Act of 1991. The appeals process currently is governed by Title VII, EEOC regulations at 29 C.F.R. Parts 1614 and 1603, and Management Directive 110 (MD-110). Table 10 below identifies the actual workload for FYs 2023 through 2025 and projected workload for FY 2026 and FY 2027.

Table 10: Appeals Workload Projections 
FY 2023 to FY 2027 

Under the leadership of Chair Lucas, the EEOC’s federal sector appellate program is increasing the implementation of case management strategies to screen and categorize cases early in the appellate process to best allocate resources, including those needed to properly address cases determined to have significant impact on the federal workforce. In FY 2025, the agency conducted an in-depth review of the federal sector appellate process and reorganized its structure to realize additional efficiencies, improve productivity, and provide more timely service and prompt appellate decisions to federal employees and agency employers. These efforts will continue into FY 2026 and FY 2027.

Chart 5 identifies the actual workload inventory and number of attorneys assigned to adjudicate appeals of EEO complaints for FYs 2023 through 2025 and projections for FYs 2026 and 2027.

Chart 5: Federal Sector Appeals Workload 
FY 2023 to FY 2027

*Chart 5 reflects the average of the receipts in the 5 years shown in table 11 above, including the actual and projected.

Based on the average receipt of 4,145 new appeals each year, the importance of an early case assessment is crucial in setting the appeal on the proper path through the process. The current Appeals Management Plan was reviewed and revised in FY 2025 to emphasize early case assessment for categorizing and tracking cases; resolve many cases earlier in the process; project the anticipated resources needed to adjudicate a case; and allocate resources more efficiently and effectively.

Oversight of Federal Agencies’ EEO Programs

 The EEOC provides a wide range of functions in conducting oversight of approximately 200 federal agencies’ EEO programs, including:

• Providing technical assistance on all aspects of federal agencies’ EEO programs and providing technical assistance and guidance to federal employees, stakeholder groups, and the public concerning the federal sector EEO complaints.
• Reviewing federal agencies’ annual accomplishment reports for compliance with Commission regulations and directives (EEO Management Directive 715).
• Tracking federal agencies’ employment and complaints patterns and producing an annual report for the President and Congress addressing the state of federal sector EEO.
• Gathering data on federal agency employment trends and EEO complaint processing and analyzing that data to issue guidance/reports that assist those agencies in understanding how their EEO program can better respond to the unique challenges posed by the discrimination issues and/or operations of an EEO program.

Concurrent with these oversight responsibilities in the federal sector, the Commission has sustained robust education initiatives to support stakeholders through comprehensive training, outreach, and engagement. During the fiscal year, the EEOC conducted more than 450 federal sector outreach, engagement and training events. Notably, the Outreach Extravaganza enabled 10,042 registered EEO professionals to access 45 hours of programming focused on employment discrimination awareness and understanding of workplace rights and responsibilities. In FY 2025, the Commission offered 51 national federal courses, serving 5,018 learners.

For FY 2027, the EEOC will continue assisting federal agencies in providing equal employment opportunities for all federal employees and applicants.

VII.   OUTREACH

In FY 2025, the EEOC’s Outreach program continued to experience a high demand for education and technical assistance from small and new businesses, as well as underserved and rural communities. The chart below demonstrates that the agency provided, and will continue to provide, outreach and education to individuals in all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the U.S. Territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, and Wake Island.

During FY 2025, the EEOC conducted 2,067 no-cost outreach events for 231,740 individuals nationwide to provide information about employment discrimination and employees’ rights and responsibilities in the workplace.

Table 11: Annual Outreach Events – Fee and Non-Fee
FY 2025 

* Totaling all Districts does not equal the total sum of all Events and Attendees because events may overlap.

With the requested funding for FY 2027 outreach activities, the EEOC will continue to reach stakeholders across the United States and provide ongoing technical assistance, guidance, and training to the public related to Administration priorities and other areas of unlawful discrimination. The EEOC will increase public awareness of common and emerging patterns of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation through national and local media campaigns and by conducting virtual and in-person events.

In the coming fiscal years, the agency will identify additional cost-effective solutions to amplify the agency’s message using videos, infographics, and radio media tours. Leveraging technology will help reach under-served groups in remote areas and expand even-handed enforcement of civil rights in America’s workplaces.

Non-fee-based Outreach

Table 12 below shows funding for Outreach (non-fee-based). The EEOC’s Budget request for FY 2027 for Strategic Goal II is $6 million, which will support the agency’s existing outreach activities across the United States.

Table 12: Budget Request Summary Through Outreach 
FY 2025 to FY 2027
(Dollars in thousands) 

Fee-based (Revolving Fund – Education, Technical Assistance, and Training)

The EEOC Training Institute (Training Institute) provides fee-based technical assistance training to stakeholders in the private and public sectors. The Training Institute is funded through the EEOC’s Revolving Fund (Fund), established by Congress in 1992 to enable the EEOC to charge reasonable fees for specialized products and services developed and delivered as part of the Commission’s training and technical assistance efforts. The Fund serves as the mechanism through which the EEOC collects payments, thus offsetting some of the costs devoted to technical assistance training to external entities.

The Training Institute provides a wide variety of fee-based training to assist private sector employers, and state, local, and federal government agencies in educating their managers and employees on the laws enforced by the EEOC and how to prevent and eradicate discrimination in the workplace.

Table 13 on the next page highlights the Revolving Fund Financing.

Table 13: Summary of Financing for the Revolving Fund
FY 2023 to FY 2027
(Dollars in thousands*) 

*May not add due to rounding.

**Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act (BBEDCA) Section 256(k) (2): Mandatory Sequestration for FY 2025, $317,205 (included in the Net Budget Authority line above).

VIII.   INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY – DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Table 14: Information Technology 
FY 2025 to FY 2027
(Dollars in thousands) 

Aligned with Strategic Goal III, the EEOC is committed to digital transformation to optimize internal processes, enhance customer experience, secure the agency’s infrastructure, and empower the agency’s workforce. The FY 2027 budget request reflects this commitment through strategic investments in mission systems, infrastructure modernization, cybersecurity, emerging technologies, and AI that support the agency’s evolving operational and enforcement needs.

AI Development

Building on the Artificial Intelligence (AI) principles and governance process developed in FY 2024 and 2025, the agency continued to enhance its governance processes and AI adoption in FY 2025 in conformance with OMB Memorandum M-25-01, ensuring transparency and performance monitoring for AI systems.

In FY 2025 and to date in FY 2026, the EEOC advanced its AI initiatives. Following a close review by the AI Governance Board and the security team, the agency approved—on a pilot basis—the use of a testimony management and court reporting platform which leverages AI and software technologies to capture witness testimony, generate real-time transcripts, and annotate documents alongside its certified court reporting services.

To further enhance productivity, the EEOC is testing Microsoft 365 Copilot, a Generative AI platform, within the agency’s secure in-tenant enterprise data protection principles, designed to assist with various administrative tasks, document drafting, and data analysis, and anticipates utilizing certain agency workflows by the end of FY 2026. This tool is anticipated to significantly improve workflow efficiency by automating routine tasks and providing intelligent recommendations. The agency is also piloting use of AI within legal research tools. The AI Governance Board continues to evaluate additional AI tools that could be integrated into the agency’s operations to support its mission more effectively.

Looking ahead to FY 2027, the EEOC plans to expand its AI capabilities further through expanded deployment of Microsoft 365 Copilot and the implementation of various AI-powered tools for customer support. These may include chatbots that can handle initial inquiries and direct individuals to the appropriate resources.

Furthermore, the EEOC is exploring automating the preparation of position descriptions; an AI-driven litigation document management system; and a document review tool within the eDiscovery platform. The agency also plans to expand its AI-driven court reporting platform and integrate AI tools to enhance case preparation, discovery, and trial readiness.

These initiatives illustrate the EEOC’s effort to use AI to improve its services and operational efficiency and enhance the agency’s ability to manage increasingly complex litigation, in line with the minimum risk management practices for high-impact AI use cases, as mandated by OMB Memorandum M-25-21. The success of these initiatives depends on securing sufficient budget and resources.

Infrastructure Modernization

The EEOC’s current public facing portals, which are over a decade old, are being upgraded to provide heightened security functionalities, improved accessibility, and an enhanced user experience. In response to increasing volumes of charge inquiries and formal charges, the agency has launched the Future of Intake initiative. The proposed solution begins with a new collection system that introduces a dynamic, modernized inquiry form—accessible online, in person, or by phone—to standardize and improve the quality of information gathered at the outset. This system is designed to eliminate barriers related to technology, disability, literacy, and geography, and will integrate existing EEOC platforms such as the Agency Records Center (ARC), EEOC E-File for Attorneys, and EEOC Scheduler.

FY 2027 funding will support the technology upgrades necessary to perform these portal modernization initiatives and fully comply with the President’s EO, Improving Our Nation Through Better Design.

In addition, during FY 2026 and 2027, the EEOC must transition to a new wide area network (WAN) structure that aligns with the evolving federal network requirements and supports the emerging Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) architecture and software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) services. These changes emphasize a decentralized approach, allowing security capabilities to be positioned closer to the data through trust zones, policy enforcement, and toward full TIC 3.0 compliance. The agency plans to transition from GSA EIS to a commercial vendor to provide improved network performance and cost savings.

In FY 2025, the EEOC also expanded the implementation of data loss prevention (DLP) technologies to review and protect content in outgoing external emails more effectively. The EEOC also initiated document labeling to protect content based on sensitivity. FY 2026 activities will expand data at rest protections—reviewing data, inventory, categorizations, and labeling.  These activities will provide extra visibility into how data is accessed and used, allowing the EEOC to automate categorization, security responses, and granular audits; implement additional data integrity/data spillage techniques; and deploy comprehensive logging and information sharing to meet the needs of zero trust.

Strategic Investment in Mission Systems

To build on the momentum from FY 2025 and FY 2026 upgrades, the FY 2027 budget includes the continuation of the following initiatives:

• Mission Systems Modernization: The EEOC will continue to support and modernize mission systems critical to enforcement and outreach operations.
• Administrative and Support Systems: The agency will strengthen administrative and support systems through continued investment in financial management and human capital management systems.
  
  The Budget also includes $450,000 to support the transition to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s consolidated Core Human Capital Management (Core HCM) system, which will consolidate outdated and inefficient human resources systems into a single, modern Core HCM platform. This single, modern platform will encompass personnel action processing, employee system of record, position management, and workforce analytics, among other human resource functions. This amount includes estimated licensing fees for the new system, data migration, and warehousing of legacy data. These investments ensure continuity and modernization of essential back-office functions.
• End-User Support and Equipment: To support a secure and productive workforce, the EEOC will invest in end-user support and equipment, including ergonomic upgrades and a hardware refresh. Additional funding will maintain access to modern productivity and collaboration tools through cloud-based software services, Windows 11, and enhanced infrastructure services, hardware, and communications systems.
• Cybersecurity: remains a top priority, with increased investment to strengthen the agency’s cyber defense posture.

The EEOC has achieved many milestones in its digital transformation, gaining benefits, efficiencies, and cost savings. With adequate funding in FY 2027, the EEOC will continue the modernization initiatives outlined above. The success of these initiatives depends on securing sufficient budget resources to enable the EEOC’s journey toward organizational excellence and meeting the evolving operational and enforcement needs with technology solutions.

IX.   ADMINISTRATIVE PROGRAM AREAS

Table 15: Human Resources 
FY 2025 to FY 2027
(Dollars in thousands) 

1.  Human Resources

 a.  Recruitment and Retention

In FY 2027, the EEOC will continue to support and address Administration executive orders and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) guidance regarding human capital recruitment and retention goals and maintain the EEOC’s authorized FTE levels.

In FY 2027, the agency will support its Agency Strategic Plan and Agency Staffing Plan to fill mission-essential positions through a wide range of hiring flexibilities, including:

• Various actions to address and fill strategic hires and senior leaders’ losses,
• Schedule A hiring of persons with disabilities,
• Veterans hiring appointments, and
• Military Spouses appointments.

2. Finance and Administration

Table 16: Finance and Administration 
FY 2025 to FY 2027
(Dollars in thousands) 

Advancing EEOC’s Strategic Space Management Agenda

The EEOC continues to execute a forward-looking space management strategy that aligns with its mission delivery, workforce modernization, and fiscal stewardship goals. Driven by lease expirations, evolving operational demands, and federal mandates for space reduction, the EEOC is reshaping its national footprint to foster more agile, efficient, and service-oriented environments.

FY 2025: Strategic Reconfiguration and Space Optimization

In FY 2025, the EEOC launched targeted reconfiguration initiatives to enhance space utilization and workplace functionality across key offices. At the headquarters Office of Inspector General (OIG), outdated workstations were removed, and square footage was repurposed to support high-value functions, including private offices and a new conference room. These upgrades foster a more collaborative and mission-focused environment. Additional projects in San Diego, Nashville, and Memphis yielded measurable improvements in internal workflows and public-facing service delivery. Notably, the Nashville and Memphis offices underwent reconfigurations that enhanced accessibility and responsiveness, while achieving net reductions in leased space, reinforcing the EEOC’s commitment to efficient, customer-centered operations.

FY 2026 and 2027

 Looking ahead to FY 2026 and 2027, the EEOC will deepen its strategic partnership with the General Services Administration (GSA) to accelerate infrastructure investment and space modernization across its national footprint. This collaboration is central to the EEOC’s long-term vision of optimizing federal real estate assets while enhancing operational efficiency, employee well-being, and public engagement. The agency will allocate funding to prioritize rightsizing and customer-focused improvements based on upcoming lease renewals in the following field offices:

• Kansas City, KS
• El Paso, TX
• Mobile, AL
• Raleigh, NC
• New York, NY
• Birmingham, AL

These locations were identified based on upcoming lease expiration dates, operational performance, utilization data analysis, and opportunities to enhance both internal workflows and external service delivery.

By investing in infrastructure and leveraging federal partnerships, the EEOC is positioning itself to deliver on its mission nationwide with greater efficiency, resilience, and responsiveness.

Financial Management and Procurement Operations

In FY 2025, the agency worked collaboratively with agency leadership to implement executive mandates, including reducing waste, fraud, and abuse and restoring common sense to procurement while strengthening economic interests, in order to improve mission delivery. These efforts reflect the agency’s commitment to shaping effective policies and improving federal procurement operations.

In FY 2026 and FY 2027, the EEOC will continue to strengthen its strategic partnership with GSA and the procurement community at large by supporting the GSA-led procurement consolidation initiative that aims to streamline purchasing processes, increase savings by buying as one government (OneGov), and reduce waste and enhance efficiency by centralizing the procurement of common goods and services within GSA. This initiative is designed to eliminate duplication and inefficiencies in government purchasing, allow the agency to focus on its core mission, and ensure taxpayer dollars are spent wisely.

To support common sense procurement opportunities and cost efficiency into future years, the EEOC is also adopting the GSA-led, centralized e-government travel management program solution, GO.gov. This partnership will aid in securing savings in FY 2027 and many future years. The GO.gov consolidation initiative includes a single, shared interagency travel and expense (T&E) system solution to reduce waste, eliminate duplication, and reduce administrative burden. GO.gov will allow the EEOC to accomplish more by focusing resources on core mission areas, ensuring that taxpayers’ dollars are spent wisely.

Security, Safety, Emergency Preparedness, and Continuity of Operations

The Security and Safety Division continues to work collaboratively with EEOC district offices, area and field offices and headquarters to implement policies and programs related to physical security; Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD)-12; federal personal identity verification (PIV) credentialing; classified national security information; emergency preparedness and management; occupational health and safety; continuity of operations (coop); insider threat; and workplace violence prevention and response.

FY 2027 funding will support mandatory requirements such as DHS Security, as requested by Federal Protective Service (FPS) Revenue staff, to address contract escalation and inflationary cost increases. Additionally, GSA’s USAccess PIV/PIV-I credentialing program advises agencies to increase their HSPD-12 program budget annually, which is reflected in the EEOC’s base adjustment. Funding is also requested to complete the phased replacement of Gallagher workstations that have exceeded their life cycle.

X.       VERIFICATION AND VALIDATION OF DATA

The agency’s private sector, federal sector, and litigation programs require accurate enforcement data, as well as reliable financial and human resources information, to assess the EEOC’s operations and performance results and make sound management decisions. The EEOC will continue efforts to ensure the accuracy and efficiency of program information and analysis.

The EEOC systematically reviews the information collected in the agency’s databases for accuracy by using statistical software (e.g., SAS, SQL, PowerBI, etc.) and program reviews of a sample of records during field office technical assistance visits. Additionally, headquarters offices regularly conduct analyses to review the information collected to identify erroneous entries requiring correction to collection procedures.

The transition of the agency’s legacy Integrated Mission System (IMS) application to the modernized Agency Records Center (ARC) system continues to improve the collection and validation of the EEOC’s program data related to charge intake, investigation, mediation, conciliation, and FEPA functions—migrating away from manual activity-based data entry to automated event-driven recordation. During these modernization efforts, the EEOC has identified many areas where the agency will be able to further automate and improve current processes and related data integrity. Because several performance measures require data to assess agency achievements, it is significant that the EEOC can now obtain reliable data more quickly.

The EEOC’s OIG regularly reviews the agency’s data validity and verification procedures, information systems, and databases and offers recommendations for corrective action or improvement. The agency uses the OIG’s information and recommendations to ensure the reliability and validity of the EEOC’s systems and data.

XI.     PROGRAM EVALUATIONS

The EEOC regularly assesses its internal program areas described above to ensure they are operating effectively, efficiently, and achieving their intended results. Program evaluations are conducted using, as appropriate, rigorous methodologies, statistical and analytical tools, and both internal and external expertise to assess the particular program under review.

Independent program evaluations have played an important role in formulating the strategic and performance goals for the EEOC’s Strategic Plan. They have helped shape some of the program issues and key focus areas for improvement, thereby increasing the Plan’s value as a management tool to guide the agency’s strategic efforts in attaining overall productivity and program efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability. The EEOC has used findings and recommendations issued in recent OIG program evaluation reports to advance the agency’s performance-based management initiatives under the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) of 1993 and the GPRA Modernization Act (GPRAMA) of 2010, and to improve the effectiveness of key agency programs. Information conveyed through OIG program evaluations reports has been useful in informing the development of the EEOC’s strategic direction and goals for the next several years, including:

• Evaluation of EEOC Data Reliability, Elder Research for the EEOC Office of Inspector General, August 2024.
• Fair Employment Practices Agencies, Clarus Research for the EEOC Office of the Inspector General, August 2024.
• Customer Service Portals, KAI Partners for the EEOC Office of Inspector General, September 2023.
• Digital Process Transformation and Automation program, KAI Partners for the EEOC Office of Inspector General, January 2023.

The EEOC will continue to utilize the information provided in OIG’s program evaluations reports to help improve program effectiveness and to ensure that the EEOC’s work aligns with the agency’s budget and mission priorities. The EEOC will also continue to address recommendations from several OIG and GAO evaluation projects. See Appendix C for more detail.

XII.   ADMINISTRATION AND SUPPORT

A.     Freedom of Information Act Workload

Table 17 below depicts the actual Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) workload for FYs 2023 through 2025 and projections for the number of requests received, processed, and pending for FYs 2026 and 2027.

Based on actual workload data for FY 2025, as noted in Table 17 below, the agency received 19,291 FOIA requests in FY 2025, and expects 20,889 in FY 2026, and 21,000 in FY 2027. In FY 2025, the agency processed 19,700 FOIA requests and expects to process approximately 19,000 in FYs 2026 and 2027.

Table 17: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 
FY 2023 to FY 2027 

*      Source: Section V.A. of EEOC’s FY2023 Annual FOIA Report.

**  Source: Section V.A. of EEOC’s FY2024 Annual FOIA Report.

*** Note that the Commission’s FY 2025 Annual FOIA Report has not yet been cleared by DOJ.

**** The FY2025 carryover differs from the FY2024 pending due to the daily receipt of FOIA requests.

B.     GINA Study Commission

Section 8 of Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) of 2008 requires Congress to designate eight members to a commission, to be known as the Genetic Nondiscrimination Study Commission, to review the developing science of genetics and make recommendations to Congress regarding whether to provide a disparate impact cause of action under GINA. The statute directed Congress to establish this commission by May 21, 2014; to date, Congress has not designated any members.

The statute requires the EEOC to cover the costs of this commission, should it be established. This commission would be located in a facility maintained by the EEOC. Although members will not receive compensation for performing services for the commission, the statute requires members to receive travel expenses, including per diem, while away from their homes or regular places of business in the course of performing such services. The statute authorizes Congress to appropriate sufficient sums to the EEOC as necessary to cover these costs, which the agency anticipates would include shared rent and security; IT services; per diem, including air fare; postal services; and other miscellaneous expenses.

APPENDIX A: EVALUATION AND EVIDENCE

The EEOC recognizes the importance of data driven decision-making and the transformative role data can have to make the federal government more efficient and to serve the American people more effectively. The EEOC is also committed to building the agency’s capacity to provide mission-critical evidence and to integrate information and data policy into budget and performance and management decision making. As a basis for this emphasis, the agency is guided by:

• Executive Order 14179, Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence
• Executive Order 14243, Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos
• OMB Memorandum M-25-21 Accelerating Federal Use of AI through Innovation, Governance, and Public Trust
• OMB Memorandum M-25-05 Phase 2 Implementation of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018: Open Government Data Access and Management Guidance
• OMB Memorandum M-20-12 Phase 4 Implementation of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018: Program Evaluation Standards and Practices
• OMB Memorandum M-19-23 Phase 1 Implementation of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018: Learning Agendas, Personnel, and Planning Guidance
• Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018

APPENDIX B: ENTERPRISE RISK MANAGEMENT

The EEOC Enterprise Risk Management Policy Handbook established formal Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) within the EEOC in accordance with Section II of OMB Circular No. A-123. ERM and Internal Control are components of a robust governance framework. ERM as a discipline, deals with identifying, assessing, and managing risks. Through adequate risk management, agencies can concentrate efforts on key points of failure and reduce or eliminate the potential for disruptive events. OMB Circular No. A-123 defines management’s responsibilities for ERM and includes requirements for identifying and managing risks.

The EEOC recognized that many risks within the organization are interrelated and cannot be effectively and efficiently managed independently within a given Headquarters or Field Office. The interconnected risks facing the EEOC must be managed across the organization and, in many instances, in coordination with the agency and its stakeholders. Therefore, the EEOC Enterprise Risk Steering Committee (ERSC) was established to oversee the development and implementation of processes used to analyze, prioritize, and address risks across the EEOC. The ERSC is composed of the following representatives:

• Chief Risk Officer (CRO) and the Committee Chair.
• Director, Office of Field Programs.
• Director, Office of Federal Sector.
• District Director Representative.
• Regional Attorney Representative.
• Field/Area/Local Office Director Representative.
• Chief Information Officer (CIO).
• Chief Information Security Officer (CISO).
• Deputy General Counsel.
• Associate Legal Counsel.
• Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
• Chief Human Capital Officer (CHCO).
• Director, Office of Communications and Legislative Affairs (OCLA).

APPENDIX C: AGENCY RESPONSES TO PL 115-414 GOOD ACCOUNTING OBLIGATION IN GOVERNMENT ACT (GAO-IG Act)

This bill requires each federal agency, in its annual budget justification, to include a report on: (1) each public recommendation of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that is classified as “open” or “closed, unimplemented”; (2) each public recommendation for corrective action from the agency’s office of the inspector general (OIG) for which no final action has been taken; and (3) the implementation status of each such recommendation.

Audit Report Name: Performance Audit of the EEOC Commercial Charge Card Program
Month and Year Report was Issued: OIG Report Number 2018-007-AOIG
Date of Report: May 31, 2019

Audit Report Name: EEOC Contracts Administration Activities 
Month and Year Report was Issued: OIG Report No. 2019-001-EOIG 
Date of Report: March 11, 2020

Audit Report Name: Evaluation of EEOC Federal Hearings and Appeals Process 
Month and Year Report was Issued: OIG Report Number 2018-01-EOIG
Date of Report: March 30, 2020

Audit Report Name: Final Report: Performance Audit of the EEOC Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA) for FY 2021
Month and Year Report was Issued: OIG Rpt. No. 2021-004-AOIG
Date of Report: March 15, 2022

Audit Report Name: Evaluation of EEOC’s Management of Private Sector Customer Service
Month and Year Report was Issued: OIG Report No. 2021-001-EOIG
Date of Report: October 18, 2022

Audit Report Name: Final Report Transmittal of the OIG Digital Process Transformation and Automation (DPTA) Evaluation
Month and Year Report was Issued: OIG Report No. 2021-002-EOIG
Date of Report: January 20, 2023

Audit Report Name: Final Report Transmittal for Customer Service Portals Evaluation
Month and Year Report was Issued: OIG Report No. 2022-001-EOIG
Date of Report: September 12, 2023

Audit Report Name: Transmittal and Exist Conference Memorandum: Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA) Fiscal Year 2022 Performance Audit
Month and Year Report was Issued: OIG Report No. 2022-001-AOIG
Date of Report: November 3, 2023

Audit Report Name: Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA) FY 2023 Performance Audit
Month and Year Report was Issued: OIG Report No. 2023-002-AOIG
Date of Report: November 20, 2023

Audit Report Name: Management Letter Report for the Audit of the EEOC’s FY 2024 Financial Statements
Month and Year Report was Issued: OIG Report Number 2024-003-AOIG
Date of Report: November 21, 2024

Audit Report Name: FINAL Report: Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA)
Month and Year Report was Issued: OIG Report Number 2024-002-AOIG
Date of Report: December 13, 2024

Audit Report Name: Audit of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Fiscal Year 2025 Financial Statement - Management Letter Report
Month and Year Report was Issued: OIG Report Number 2025-001-AOIG
Date of Report: January 7, 2026  * NEW REPORT*

Audit Report Name: GAO: Workforce Diversity: Hispanic Workers Are Underrepresented in the Media, and More Data Are Needed for Federal Enforcement Efforts
Month and Year Report was Issued: GAO-22-104669
Date of Report: October 5, 2022

Audit Report Name: GAO: Information Management: Agencies Need to Streamline Electronic Services
Month and Year Report was Issued: GAO-23-105562
Date of Report: December 20, 2022

Audit Report Name: GAO: Higher Education: Employment Discrimination Case Referrals between Education and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Could Be Improved 
Month and Year Report was Issued: GAO-24-105516
Date of Report: April 9, 2024

Audit Report Name: GAO: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: Improved Oversight Processes Needed to Help Agencies Address Program Deficiencies
Month and Year Report was Issued: GAO-24-105874
Date of Report: June 13, 2024

U.S. EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION 
131 M STREET NE
WASHINGTON, DC 20507 WWW.EEOC.GOV

[1] The EEOC Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2026–2030 is currently under development and will be posted to the agency’s website when available.

[2] This is the total aggregate request for the OIG. Includes estimated FY 2027 compensation and benefits totaling $2,462,924.

[3] 0.0038 percent of $2,510,000 or $9,538 will support the CIGIE.