Trump administration bans agencies from considering race or gender in hiring process

The Trump administration on Thursday issued new guidelines barring federal agencies from considering race or gender in the hiring process.

The Trump administration on Thursday issued new guidelines barring federal agencies from considering race or gender in the hiring process. The guidelines, part of a Merit Hiring Plan sent to agency leaders, also call for preventing the hiring of workers unwilling to “faithfully serve the Executive Branch.” “The overly complex Federal hiring system overemphasized discriminatory ‘equity’ quotas and too often resulted in the hiring of unfit, unskilled bureaucrats,” the Office of Personnel Management wrote in a memo to agency leaders. The memo stems from an executive order President Donald Trump signed on his first day in office that seeks to “restore merit to government service.” The administration has already moved to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion programs within federal agencies and sought to extend that effort to institutions and companies that interact with the federal government. The hiring plan comes as the federal government has been implementing mass layoffs known as reductions in force, or RIFs, though that process has been put on hold at multiple agencies by federal courts. The administration has also restricted how many new hires agencies can add to their ranks — with only one new position for every four people who depart. At least one group that advocates for good governance criticized the memo, saying it’s yet another example of the Trump administration’s efforts to reshape the federal workforce into one that’s loyal to the president, not the American people.