President Trump has nominated Keith Sonderling to serve as the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Labor. Most recently, he served for 5 years as a commissioner on the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC), and he previously served as Acting Administrator of the Wage & Hour Division in the Department of Labor during the first Trump administration. As an EEOC Commissioner, he dissented from adopting new guidance that expanded the agency’s view of illegal workplace harassment and discrimination to include discrimination based on gender identity. He also voted against the EEOC’s final rule on the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which acknowledged abortion as related to pregnancy and childbirth and thus as a medical condition for which workers are entitled to certain accommodations by employers. If confirmed by the Senate, his primary responsibilities as Deputy Secretary would include overseeing operations for the agency and its thousands of federal employees across nearly all states and U.S. territories.
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