Affirmative Action Threatened by House Republicans
House Republicans announced this week that they're backing off legislation to dismantle affirmative action, saying they want to woo the black vote and the issue is one they want to “approach carefully with a comprehensive strategy.” They have a comprehensive strategy all right. At the same time they were making this announcement, they were going forward with plans to gut the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. OFCCP is the agency responsible for enforcing discrimination laws and monitoring affirmative action plans for employers doing business with the federal government. The House Subcommittee on Employer-Employee relations is pushing to strip the agency of its enforcement duties (they claim “educating” employers is enough.) And if current budget plans go through, personnel will be cut to the bone, meaning enforcement will be impossible anyway. So the R's get it both ways — no public outcry because they're not actually passing laws to take down affirmative action, combined with a back door gutting through the budget process.
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