The Trump administration quietly ended a decree from the late President Jimmy Carter that introduced diversity, equity, and inclusion policies into government hiring practices decades ago.
The decree was the result of a 1979 Supreme Court finding in Luevano v. Ezell that the government civil service exam was unlawful because black and Hispanic applicants were not passing it at the same rate as white applicants. Carter issued the 1981 decree that shut down the exam and called on federal agencies to produce a test that had equal outcomes for the different demographics.
‘It’s about time people are judged not by their identity but instead “by the content of their character.”‘
The Office of Personnel Management has tried to create a test six times but failed, leading agencies to be forced to hire workers without any similar testing.
With the end of Carter’s decree, government workers can be tested without officials worrying about the disparate impact on minorities, contingent, of course, on any new court challenges.
Research psychologist Russell T. Warne said the end of the decree could led to “seismic changes in how the Civil Rights Act is interpreted in employment law.”
“For over four decades, this decree has hampered the federal government from hiring the top talent of our nation,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon in a statement from the Justice Department. “Today, the Justice Department removed that barrier and reopened federal employment opportunities based on merit — not race.”
The America First Legal Foundation filed a federal complaint in May to end the decree.
“Being able to recruit the best and brightest to work in Washington returns dividends for the country by doing more with less,” said AFL Vice President Dan Epstein to Fox News Digital. “That is what all Americans deserve from their government.”
“It’s simple. Competence and merit are the standards by which we should all be judged; nothing more and nothing less,” said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro of the District of Columbia.
“It’s about time people are judged not by their identity but instead ‘by the content of their character,’” she added.
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