Significant EEOC policy changes that would align with Biden administration priorities are in a holding pattern while Republicans maintain a majority on the agency’s leadership panel. But day-to-day decisions over which lawsuits to pursue have largely avoided partisan gridlock because of GOP Commissioner Andrea Lucas.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Democratic Chair Charlotte Burrows is unlikely to press for substantive regulatory actions and other moves while three out of five commissioners are Republicans, agency watchers said. That means delays on rules for employer wellness plans that have taken on heightened significance during the Covid-19 pandemic, on sexual harassment guidance that’s been in limbo since 2017, and on pushes for employer pay data reporting—an issue President Joe Biden has highlighted.

Despite the unusual leadership makeup, the agency nevertheless continues to file discrimination lawsuits, with the commissioners unanimously agreeing 40 times since October 2020 to sue an employer or file a friend-of-the-court brief in a private litigant’s case, according to a Bloomberg Law analysis of EEOC voting records.

Lucas has emerged as the deciding swing vote in 37 split 3-2 decisions on litigation and other agency actions out of a total of 135 votes between Oct. 26, 2020, when Republicans gained the EEOC majority, and Nov. 30, 2021.

Lucas—who...

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