Ending DEI and Reforming the Federal Hiring Process

Two new executive orders that have not gathered the attention others have will impact all federal agencies: ending DEI and reforming the hiring process.

Two New Executive Orders Impacting All Agencies

President Trump issued a blizzard of new executive orders on January 20th, some of them probably posted after most people were in bed (other than those attending one of the inaugural balls in Washington).

While these will not gather as many headlines as some other executive orders such as telework and Schedule F, two orders will also impact federal agencies. These are Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing and Reforming The Federal Hiring Process And Restoring Merit To Government Service.

Here is a summary of what these orders are intended to accomplish. The Office of Personnel Management has also issued initial implementation guidance to agencies.

Ending DEI Programs and Revising Performance Reviews

President Biden issued an Executive Order to advance “equity across the federal government.” The new Trump Order states, “The Biden Administration forced illegal and immoral discrimination programs, going by the name ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ (DEI), into virtually all aspects of the Federal Government….”

The Trump Executive Order states:

[N]early every Federal agency and entity submitted “Equity Action Plans” to detail the ways that they have furthered DEIs infiltration of the Federal Government. The public release of these plans demonstrated immense public waste and shameful discrimination.  That ends today. Americans deserve a government committed to serving every person with equal dignity and respect….

The Order directs the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to terminate “all discriminatory programs, including illegal DEI and ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility’ (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government, under whatever name they appear.”

The OPM Director, with the assistance of the Attorney General, is also ordered to review and revise “all existing Federal employment practices, union contracts, and training policies or programs to comply with this order.”

For individual federal employees, performance reviews and employment practices are intended to “reward individual initiative, skills, performance, and hard work and shall not under any circumstances consider DEI or DEIA factors, goals, policies, mandates, or requirements.”

Additionally, agencies are directed to take these actions within 60 days:

  • Terminate all DEI, DEIA, and “environmental justice” offices and positions (including but not limited to “Chief Diversity Officer” positions); all “equity action plans,” “equity” actions, “equity-related” grants or contracts; and all DEI or DEIA performance requirements;
  • List all “environmental justice” positions, committees, programs, services, activities, budgets, and expenditures in existence on November 4, 2024, and to make sure they have not been relabeled;
  • List federal contractors who have provided DEI training or DEI training materials
  • List federal grantees who received funding to provide or advance DEI, DEIA, or “environmental justice” programs, services, or activities;
  • Assess the operational impact and cost of these programs.

Reforming The Federal Hiring Process And Restoring Merit To Government Service

This Executive Order states, “[C]urrent federal hiring practices are broken, insular, and outdated.  They no longer focus on merit, practical skill, and dedication to our Constitution.”

The purpose of this Order is to correct this articulated problem.

In particular, the Order identifies these as impermissible factors in the hiring process:

Federal hiring should not be based on impermissible factors, such as one’s commitment to illegal racial discrimination under the guise of “equity,” or one’s commitment to the invented concept of “gender identity” over sex.  Inserting such factors into the hiring process subverts the will of the People, puts critical government functions at risk, and risks losing the best-qualified candidates.

The Order establishes a deadline of 120 days. It orders OMB, OPM, the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, and the Administrator of the Department of Government Efficiency to develop and send to agency heads “a Federal Hiring Plan that brings to the Federal workforce only highly skilled Americans dedicated to the furtherance of American ideals, values, and interests.”

For readers who have worked with the federal government’s human resources system for a longer time, anyone who may have expected a return to the use of a Federal Service Entrance Exam (FSEE) will be disappointed. The FSEE was the exam used by the Civil Service Commission, the predecessor to the Office of Personnel Management, to screen applicants so the best qualified candidates for federal jobs were the ones hired.

The CSC argued strenuously that those who did the best on the test were found to make the most successful federal employees. Numerous lawsuits contending the test was racially biased ended the use of the test. There is no mention of using any such test in any of the new documents that stress improving the federal hiring system.

Requirements for the New Federal Hiring Plan

This Executive Order outlines problems that need to be corrected in hiring new federal employees. It wants to hire the best-qualified people based on their qualifications and their merit without regard to factors agencies have come to expect with various DEI programs.

The Order goes into more detail about what the new federal hiring plan must include. Specifically:

  • prioritize people committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the Constitution;
  • prevent hiring people based on their race, sex, or religion, and prevent hiring people unwilling to defend the Constitution or to faithfully serve the Executive Branch;
  • implement technical and alternative assessments by the Chance to Compete Act of 2024;
  • decrease government-wide time-to-hire to under 80 days;
  • improve communication with candidates to provide greater clarity regarding application status, timelines, and feedback;
  • integrate modern technology supporting the recruitment and selection process, including the use of data analytics to identify trends, gaps, and opportunities in hiring, as well as leveraging digital platforms to improve candidate engagement.

Directive Regarding SES Positions

While related to the federal hiring plan outlined in the Order, it also has requirements for Senior Executive Service (SES) positions.

The Federal Hiring Plan is to include agency plans to improve the allocation of SES positions in Cabinet agencies. The Order also directs a similar plan for the Environmental Protection Agency, the Office of Management and Budget, the Small Business Administration, the Social Security Administration, the National Science Foundation, the Office of Personnel Management, and the General Services Administration.

About the Author

Ralph Smith has several decades of experience working with federal human resources issues. He has written extensively on a full range of human resources topics in books and newsletters and is a co-founder of two companies and several newsletters on federal human resources. Follow Ralph on Twitter: @RalphSmith47