Funding Cuts Have EEOC in "Disarray"

The long list of social service and regulatory agency victims of Bush budget cuts now includes the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency that investigates claims of racial and gender bias on the job.

Although she said she's under a White House gag order and isn't supposed to ask for any more funding, EEOC Chairwoman Naomi Earp told a Senate subcommittee this month that her agency has lost 543 employees – 500 of them in enforcement -- since Bush took office in 2001.

The EEOC has a backlog of 36,000 unfinished cases, a number that is projected to grow to 55,000 next year. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), chair of the appropriations subcommittee holding the hearing, said the EEOC was in "disarray" and said she will request an independent audit by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on the effects of recent restructuring efforts.