June 28, 2022
Washington, DC
Conservatives are strongly opposed to the nomination of Kalpana Kotagal to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC was created to administer and enforce civil rights laws in the workplace, thereby conferring upon it special importance to remain neutral and even-keeled in its application of civil rights law. Confirmation of Ms. Kotagal would dramatically shift the commission’s ideological balance, empowering an attorney activist with a long history of frivolous litigation, anti-law enforcement inclinations, and prejudice against the reliable energy industry.
At the moment, Ms. Kotagal’s nomination remains mired in the Senate HELP Committee due to her controversial and extreme record, where she has thus far failed to receive a majority of votes from members of the committee. Her nomination should not advance any further. Nevertheless, Senate Majority Leader Schumer can force a procedural vote to call her nomination up before the full Senate and bypass the committee process. If confirmed on the floor, Ms. Kotagal will be positioned to weaponize the Biden Administration’s radical progressive agenda against a vast swath of American employers.
The structure of the EEOC provides the commission with broad latitude to wield the power of the Executive Branch as a potential cudgel against businesses and specific industries that fall out of favor with those in power. Kalpana Kotagal’s far-left proclivities underscore the dangers inherent in her confirmation to the EEOC:
- Ms. Kotagal would pass aggressive policy guidance on transgender and gender identity-related issues, deputizing American businesses to wage the Left’s culture war.
- Ms. Kotagal would rescind or undermine Trump-era religious discrimination policy guidance, further marginalizing and pushing people of faith out of public life.
- Ms. Kotagal would undermine workplace arbitration, pushing to erode the use of alternative dispute resolutions that protect American workers.
- Ms. Kotagal would weaponize litigation, targeting sectors of the business community unaligned with the progressive agenda with frivolous and costly lawsuits (Ms. Kotagal’s frivolous class action pay discrimination lawsuit against Walmart, which was unanimously dismissed by the Supreme Court, serves as a stark warning).
- Ms. Kotagal would promote an onerous green agenda that attacks reliable energy extraction, targeting the coal and oil/gas industries in pursuit of a far-Left climate dogma amid record-high gas prices and inflation.
- Ms. Kotagal would champion the “defund the police” movement, supporting those who malign law enforcement as a tool of white supremacy and who call for the abolition of the police while Americans suffer from record increases in violent crime.
Hardworking Americans and their families are suffering from crippling inflation, skyrocketing energy costs, rampant crime, and captured institutions weaponized to advance a progressive crusade against longstanding societal virtues and norms. The EEOC should remain free from someone of her extreme ideological tilt. As conservatives, we stand united with the interests of the American people and are opposed to the nomination of Ms. Kotagal and the implementation of her radical agenda. The Senate should reject her nomination.
| The Honorable Edwin Meese III Attorney General President Ronald Reagan (1985-1988) |
The Honorable J. Kenneth Blackwell Chairman, Conservative Action Project Chairman, CNP Action, Inc. |
| Jenny Beth Martin Chairman Tea Party Patriots Citizen Fund |
David N. Bossie President Citizens United |
| Star Parker President & Founder Center for Urban Renewal and Education (CURE) |
Marty Dannenfelser Vice President for Government Relations and Coalitions Center for Urban Renewal and Education (CURE) |
| Chad Connelly Founder and President Faith Wins |
L. Brent Bozell III Founder and President Media Research Center |
| Thomas E. McClusky Principal Greenlight Strategies, LLC |
Kelly J. Shackelford, Esq. President and CEO First Liberty Institute |
| The Honorable Bob McEwen U.S. House of Representatives Former Member, Ohio |
The Honorable Becky Norton Dunlop White House Advisor President Ronald Reagan (1981-1985) |
| Myron Ebell Director, Center for Energy and Environment Competitive Enterprise Institute |
The Honorable T. Kenneth Cribb, Jr. Former Counselor to the U.S. Attorney General Reagan Department of Justice |
| The Honorable Jim DeMint Chairman, Conservative Partnership Institute Member, US Senate (SC 2005-2013) |
Wesley Denton Chief Operating Officer Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI) |
| Ed Corrigan Vice Chairman, Conservative Action Project President & CEO, Conservative Partnership Institute |
Tom Jones Co-Founder American Accountability Foundation |
| David Bozell President ForAmerica |
Terry Schilling President American Principles Project |
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The Honorable Tony Perkins President Family Research Council |
| Penny Y. Nance President & CEO Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee |
The Honorable Morton C. Blackwell President The Leadership Institute |
| The Honorable Paul S. Teller, Ph.D. Executive Director Advancing American Freedom |
Ralph Benko Chairman The Capitalist League |
| Craig Shirley Presidential Historian Reagan Biographer |
Karen England President Capitol Resource Institute |
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Ashley Baker Director of Public Policy The Committee for Justice |
| Richard Wright Owner R & S LLC |
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| Ben Case | C. Preston Noell III President Tradition, Family, Property, Inc. |
| Sandy Rios Director of Governmental Affairs American Family Association |
Paul Blair Pastor Liberty Pastors / Reclaiming America for Christ |
| Tim Throckmorton President Lifepointe Ministries |
Joseph A. Morris Partner, Morris & De La Rosa Former Counsel to the Chairman, E.E.O.C. |
| Brian Brown President National Organization for Marriage |
Seton Motley President Less Government |
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Richard Hayes Partner Hayes, Berry, White & Vanzant LLP |
| Richard Manning President Americans for Limited Government |
Kristen A. Ullman President Eagle Forum |
| Judson Phillips Founder Tea Party Nation |
Mark J. Fitzgibbons President of Corporate Affairs American Target Advertising |
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Don Woodsmall Interim President Center for Security Policy |
| Saulius “Saul” Anuzis President 60 Plus Association |
Dr. Leighton Paige Patterson President Sandy Creek Foundation |
| James L. Martin Founder/Chairman 60 Plus Association |
Darrel Johnson CEO Attic Corp |
| Jay Mount President MDS Communications Corporation |
Kay R. Daly President Coalition for a Fair Judiciary |
| Ron Pearson Executive Director Conservative Victory Fund |
Eaton Hopkins President Liberty Surgical, Inc. |
| Nancy Schulze Founder, President RCW Speakers |
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| Dr. Chris Hughes Founder & Chairman The Citizens for America Foundation |
The Honorable Peter J. Thomas Chairman Conservative Caucus |
| Tom DeWeese President American Policy Center |
The Honorable Mike Hill Former Member Florida State House |
| Paavo Ensio Chairman Universal Minerals Group |
Penna Dexter Co-host Point of View Radio |
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Mario Navarro da Costa Director, Washington Bureau Tradition, Family, Property |
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Joan Holt Lindsey President Lindsey Communications |
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