The chairwoman of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission during the closing years of the George W. Bush administration, Naomi Earp, is President Trump’s choice for assistant secretary for civil rights at the USDA, announced the White House. Earp, who turns 68 on Thursday, “is a retired career civil servant with more than 20 years of experience in federal equal opportunity policy, charge processing, complaint handing and employment law,” said the administration.
Meanwhile, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has blocked a Senate vote on an Iowa nominee for agriculture undersecretary since last October. When asked about that, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, suggested he wouldn’t retaliate: “Right now, we don’t have plans to have a hold on any Texas judges,” he said.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said Earp’s “experience in civil rights issues and in the federal government make her uniquely qualified” to head USDA’s civil rights office. The post requires Senate confirmation. Appointed by Bush as EEOC chair in September 2006, Earp led the EEOC until early 2009, when an Obama appointee took over. She resigned as EEOC commissioner in June 2009 to become director of the office of opportunity at the Library of Congress. Earp was EEOC vice chair for three years before her appointment as the agency’s leader.
“Throughout her career, Earp has been a strong advocate for labor-management partnership and cooperative business models to raise awareness and address both disparate treatment complaints and allegations of systemic discrimination,” said the USDA. “Her federal equal opportunity, civil rights compliance, and public policy career includes positions with the Departments of Commerce and Agriculture and the National Institutes of Health.”