Trump Blocks Rule Aimed at Ending Pay Discrimination: EMILYs List Responds

August 30, 2017

WASHINGTON D.C. — Yesterday, Donald Trump announced that the White House will block an Obama-era rule requiring businesses to track wages with the goal of preventing discrimination in pay. In response, Emily Cain, executive director of EMILY's List, released the following statement:

“This policy is a critical part of the fight to end the gender and race discrimination gap in pay. For Donald Trump to block its implementation, simply because, as one of his spokespeople admitted, it was 'burdensome,' is beyond the pale. It's burdensome for women – particularly women of color – to struggle to get paid the same amount as their white, male colleagues. It's burdensome for women to come home with smaller paychecks and fight to feed their families and look after sick relatives. And it's burdensome to deal with a president and a Republican Party who not only refuse to stand up for women's rights, but who actively work to turn back the clock on our progress.”

“Women won't forget this callous attitude and dangerous policy reversal in 2018. They're going to vote out the Republicans who rubber-stamp this president's outrageous and backwards agenda – and replace them with our pro-choice Democratic women.”

EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $500 million to support pro-choice Democratic women candidates – making them one of the most successful political organizations ever. Our grassroots community of over five million members helps Democratic women wage competitive campaigns – and win. We recruit and train candidates, support strong campaigns, research the issues that impact women and families, and turn out women voters. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect 116 women to the House, 23 to the Senate, 12 governors, and over 800 to state and local office. Forty percent of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. Since the 2016 election, thousands of women and counting have reached out to us about running for office. To harness this energy, EMILYs List has launched Run to Win, an unprecedented effort to get more women to run at the local, state, and national levels.