The Senate HELP Committee voted 11 to 10 to advance Kalpana Kotagal's nomination to serve on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, but she will likely need all 51 Democrat Senators to be present and voting yes to be confirmed.
The vote pushes her nomination past a hurdle that she was unable to clear last year when President Biden first nominated her in April 2022.
Ms. Kotagal is a well-qualified and experienced employment and civil rights litigator who has worked on class actions and individual cases covering claims of discrimination and harassment, plus leave and wage and hour issues.
Her confirmation would launch an aggressive policy agenda for the new Democrat majority, including:
- New rules on the utilization of AI in employment decisions;
- New pay transparency requirements for employers;
- New rules requiring reasonable accommodation for pregnant workers; and
- New rules for wellness program financial incentives.
The Senate HELP committee also cleared other nominations including Jessica Looman to head the DOL's Wage and Hour Division and Jose Javier Rodriguez to be DOL Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training.
But it will take all 51 Democrat Senators to be present for the floor vote and a number of them are currently out for health reasons. It is unclear when Majority Leader Schumer will have his caucus back at full strength.