Trump KILLS 44-Year DEI Mandate — Merit WINS

Trump’s Justice Department has dismantled a 44-year-old Carter-era mandate that forced federal agencies to prioritize race over merit in hiring, marking a seismic victory for constitutional equality and common-sense governance.

Story Highlights

DOJ officially ends Carter’s 1981 consent decree requiring DEI mandates in federal hiring
Agencies can now restore merit-based standardized testing after four decades of race-conscious recruitment
Move eliminates barriers that prevented hiring the most qualified candidates for government positions
Action represents broader Trump agenda to dismantle discriminatory affirmative action policies

Trump Administration Restores Merit-Based Federal Hiring

The Department of Justice announced in August 2025 the formal rescission of a consent decree that has governed federal hiring since 1981. The decree originated from the 1979 Supreme Court case Luevano v. Ezell, which challenged the Professional and Administrative Career Examination on grounds of disparate impact. Under President Carter, the government eliminated standardized testing and mandated hiring practices designed to achieve equal demographic outcomes rather than selecting the most qualified applicants.

Decades of Failed DEI Experiments End

The Office of Personnel Management attempted six times over 44 years to develop a replacement exam that would satisfy DEI requirements but failed repeatedly. This left federal agencies hiring without standardized assessments, creating an environment where race and identity took precedence over competence and qualifications. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon stated the decree “hampered the federal government from hiring the top talent of our nation,” highlighting how ideological mandates undermined effective governance.

Constitutional Principles Restored in Government Hiring

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro emphasized the constitutional foundation of the change, noting “it’s about time people are judged not by their identity but instead by the content of their character.” This approach aligns with core American principles of equal treatment under law and individual merit. The America First Legal Foundation, which filed the complaint leading to the decree’s termination, argued that merit-based hiring “returns dividends for the country by doing more with less.”

The rescission represents part of Trump’s comprehensive effort to eliminate discriminatory DEI policies across federal operations. Previous actions include ending affirmative action requirements for government contractors and extending hiring freezes to restructure the federal workforce around competence rather than demographics. Research psychologist Russell T. Warne noted this could trigger “seismic changes in how the Civil Rights Act is interpreted in employment law.”

Long-Overdue Victory Against Reverse Discrimination

This decisive action corrects four decades of government-sanctioned discrimination that violated the fundamental American principle of equal opportunity. By eliminating race-based hiring mandates, the Trump administration has restored fairness to federal employment and ensured taxpayers receive the most qualified public servants. The move signals a broader rejection of woke ideology that has infected government operations, prioritizing competence over politically correct quotas that undermined both efficiency and constitutional equality.

Federal agencies can now implement standardized testing and merit-based assessments without fear of litigation based on disparate impact theories. This restoration of common-sense hiring practices promises to improve government effectiveness while upholding the constitutional guarantee that all Americans receive equal treatment regardless of race or ethnicity.