A New EEOC Chairwoman?

Al Kamen's speculating that Cassandra Butts, Obama's deputy White House Counsel, could be the next chairwoman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and goes on to say that she could be a shot of life for the Commission. I'm not particularly qualified to speculate on Butts' shot of life potential, but this is a situation where I don't think it's just a matter of getting new leadership in the agency. If Obama wants a crusader to run the agency, he could easily make Christine Griffin, the current acting vice-chair, the permanent chair. You won't find a candidate more outspoken and committed to her vision of equal opportunity than Griffin.

But the EEOC needs money to hire more staff. Once it gets those staff on board, it'll need to make sure they have whatever resources they need to reduce the backlog of cases. A new head of the EEOC can advocate for those resources. But she can't produce them out of thin air. If Obama decides to make the EEOC a priority, it will be. If not, the most determined entreaties probably won't be able to change much.