Log Cabin Slams GOP Attempt To Stall Executive Order On Federal Contractors

"Bring it on. Unlike his hotly contested unilateral actions on immigration or minimum wage, President Obama’s executive order providing workplace protections for LGBT federal employees is a simple extension of an executive order that was already in place under the administration of President George W. Bush. We hope that Director Shiu calls Congressmen Kline and Walberg on their ridiculous bluff — if she does, both Congressmen will soon discover what Log Cabin Republicans has been telling their offices for years — that 69 percent of Americans support workplace protections for the LGBT community — including 56 percent of Republicans. It may be extreme, but perhaps a public comment period is what it will finally take for Chairman Kline to realize just how out-of-touch he is on this issue, both with Americans and his own constituents, and finally push the Employment Non-Discrimination Act out of committee where he has kept it bottled up for the past 13 months." - Log Cabin Republicans head Gregory Angelo, responding to the GOP's attempt to stall the executive order banning federal contractors from discriminating against LGBT employees.

House Republicans Attempt To Stall Executive Order On Federal Contractors

Earlier this week the Department of Labor issued its final rule on the implementation of President Obama's executive order banning federal contractors from discriminating against LGBT employees. House Republicans are now trying to stall the order's enactment. Chris Geidner reports at Buzzfeed:

House Education and Workforce Committee Chair John Kline, a Republican from Minnesota, and Rep. Tim Walberg, the Republican chair of the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, made the request for a 60-day public comment period for the rule in a letter to the head of the office responsible for enforcing it. “[W]e understand the public was not afforded an opportunity to submit comments as provided under the Administrative Procedures Act (APA),” Kline and Walberg wrote to Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs Director Patricia Shiu. “Public comment is essential to all rulemakings.” After laying out their argument, they write, “We therefore urge OFCCP to withdraw its final regulation submitted to [Office of Management and Budget] … so the process for implementing [Obama’s executive order] can be done with the transparency and public participation typically afforded under the APA.” They ask for a response from Shiu “no later than December 17, 2014.”

The Labor Department is reviewing the letter.