CREW requests USCCR Commissioner policies and communications

Since 1957, the bipartisan United States Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR) has supervised civil rights compliance in the federal government through their reports and evaluations. However, consistent with his administration’s disregard of law and long-standing policies to restructure other federal agencies, on January 20 President Trump appears to have designated Peter Kirsanow as Chairperson of USCCR—despite the absence of a vacancy and without the legally required concurrence of the majority of the Commission’s members.

CREW requested records from the USCCR related to how commissioners are removed and investigated for potential malfeasance, how the White House communicates its designations for Chair and Vice Chair to USCCR and USCCR’s communications with DOGE and the DOGE caucus. Records could reveal if the Trump administration’s actions violate the law and long-standing USCCR policy in designating Kirsanow as chair without seeking the concurrence of the Commission, as Congress required.

Trump appointing Kirsanow as USCCR’s Chairperson without the concurrence of the Commission’s members is just one way he’s attempting to reshape the government to advance his own interests by disregarding the law. The American public has the right to know about the legality of the Trump administration’s actions at USCCR, as they could undermine the bipartisan civil rights watchdog’s ability to study and advise the federal government on the state of national civil rights policy and enforcement in areas such as disaster response, maternal health and cutting edge technologies.