President Trump has nominated Carter Crow to serve as the general counsel of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). With a degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Law, Crow has spent twenty-five years at the global business law firm Norton Rose Fulbright. For the past three years he has worked as the firm’s Global Head of Labor and Employment.
The general counsel position is the top lawyer within the EEOC, responsible for leading the agency’s enforcement litigation program. There have been multiple changes to the general counsel role in 2025. Shortly after he was inaugurated, President Trump fired Karla Gilbride, who had served as EEOC’s general counsel since October 2023. The President then named Andrew Rogers as the Acting General Counsel for EEOC in February 2025. Rogers was confirmed as the Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division on October 7th, 2025, leaving the position of EEOC general counsel vacant. Catherine Eschbach, who left the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs in September 2025 to serve as EEOC’s Principal Deputy General Counsel, has been serving as EEOC’s Acting General Counsel. Eschbach will likely continue in the acting role until Crow is confirmed.
If confirmed by the United States Senate, Crow will join an EEOC that is anticipated to ramp up its activity in 2026. Brittany Panuccio was recently confirmed as a Commissioner, restoring the agency’s quorum needed for making new policy, revisiting prior policy documents, and voting on significant litigation matters. It is expected that the agency will pursue litigation focused on illegal DEI, religious accommodations and harassment, and anti-American bias.