JNS: Federal discrimination investigations on hold during govt shutdown

All current investigations by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal agency, are paused during the shutdown, a House committee spokesman told JNS.

This includes an active investigation launched in September into the alleged mishandling of Jew-hatred within the California State University system. Mildred Garcia, the public system’s chancellor, said that the agency had contacted “some faculty and staff members across the system to review allegations of antisemitism and to speak with them about their experiences on campus.”

The federal government shutdown began on Oct. 1 after congressional members failed to reach an agreement on a funding bill.

Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), who chairs the House Committee on Education and Workforce, stated that, with the EEOC closed due to the shutdown, there would be “no investigations, no justice.”

“Workers could file complaints, but they’d be stranded without answers,” he said.

A spokesman for the committee told JNS that “all current EEOC investigations will be put on hold for the duration of the shutdown.”

On its website, the EEOC states that “interviews scheduled to occur during the period that the federal government is closed are cancelled and will be rescheduled when the government reopens.”