Sponsor
Eleanor Holmes Norton
Representative · D-DC
Representative · D-DC
The bill creates a time-bound federal commission to study and recommend workplace sexual harassment reforms—potentially improving protections and standardizing policies for many workers—but leaves key funding, oversight, and operational details that could politicize the process, limit participation, strain agencies, and produce costs without guaranteed implementation.
Workers — especially women, employees in high-risk industries, gig/freelance and low-income workers, immigrants, and people with disabilities — would gain a dedicated federal commission to centralize research, identify barriers to reporting, and recommend workplace reforms that could strengthen prevention, reporting, accountability, and standardized protections across sectors.
Federal agencies and the Commission — and by extension the public — would get a time-bound, operationally supported body (fast appointments, required early meetings, GSA support, contracting and staffing authorities) that can begin work quickly and access expertise to produce a report for Congress.
Survivors and women in particular would have guaranteed representation on the Commission (at least six of 11 members must be women), increasing the likelihood that recommendations reflect survivors' and women's perspectives.
Workers and taxpayers — the Commission is created without clear, fully funded details on duties, appropriations, and long‑term implementation, so it may be delayed, produce limited immediate effects, or require unpredictable taxpayer funding.
Potential appointees and affected workers — the appointment structure and unpaid service create risks of politicization and socioeconomic exclusion: leadership splits could politicize recommendations, and unpaid roles may exclude lower‑income participants, reducing diversity of perspectives.
Federal agencies and contractors — the bill could impose administrative burdens and procurement risks by requiring agencies to furnish information on demand and by waiving certain procurement safeguards for Commission contracts, while unreimbursed staff details may strain home agencies' capacity.
Based on analysis of 7 sections of legislative text.
Creates a temporary 11-member federal commission to study workplace sexual harassment, hold hearings, and issue a report of findings and recommendations to the President and Congress within 18 months.
Official title: To create a national commission to combat workplace sexual harassment, and for other purposes.
Introduced June 8, 2026 by Eleanor Holmes Norton · Last progress June 8, 2026
Creates a temporary federal National Commission to Combat Workplace Sexual Harassment to investigate workplace sexual harassment, sexual assault, and related misconduct across industries, gather testimony, analyze causes and reporting gaps, and deliver a comprehensive report of findings and recommendations to the President and Congress with a public hearing no later than 18 months after enactment. The Commission will be an 11-member body (with a requirement that at least six members be women), staffed by a Director and personnel, empowered to hold hearings, request information from federal agencies, contract for services (subject to appropriations), and will terminate 60 days after submitting its report.