The Trump administration has emphasized reforming the federal government to create a more efficient organization. There is a new development now being implemented likely to be one of the biggest changes to the federal government’s human resources program in recent years.
In a press release, the Department of Justice (DOJ) wrote, “The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division ended a court-imposed decree initiated by the Carter administration, which limited the hiring practices of the federal government based on flawed and outdated theories of diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
The DOJ press release states:
In Luevano v. Ezell, the Court dismissed a consent decree based on a lawsuit initially brought by interest groups representing federal employees in 1979. The decree entered in 1981 imposed draconian test review and implementation procedures on the Office of Personnel Management—and consequently all other federal agencies—requiring them to receive permission prior to using any tests for potential federal employees, in an attempt to require equal testing outcomes among all races of test-takers.
“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. “It’s about time people are judged, not by their identity, but instead ‘by the content of their character.'”
“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 of the Civil Rights Division. “Today, the Justice Department removed that barrier and reopened federal employment opportunities based on merit—not race.”
How the Luevano Case Changed Federal Hiring
In 1981, under the Carter administration, the federal government entered into a consent decree as a result of a class action lawsuit in Luévano v. Campbell, 93 F.R.D. 68 (D.D.C. 1981).
In the consent agreement, the government agreed to phase out the Professional and Administrative Career Examination (PACE). This was a single, standardized test used to hire most GS-5 and GS-7 career-track jobs across multiple agencies.
By the late 1960s, the Civil Service Commission wanted to standardize entry into professional and administrative careers rather than maintaining dozens of small registers. The PACE exam was the answer to meet this objective.
PACE was created in 1969. It was a universal exam for GS-5/7 level positions in multiple occupational series.
In a 1961 speech to the Civil Service Assembly, President Kennedy stressed the need to attract “the ablest and most dedicated young men and women” into public service, highlighting merit and dedication over political favoritism.
The Civil Service Assembly was a conference of federal employees and officials focused on issues related to the federal workforce, personnel policies, and improving government service. It was designed to hire the best-qualified people into government jobs, consistent with the emphasis of the Kennedy administration to seek out the “best and brightest” people for federal jobs.
The decree shifted federal hiring. It had been a centralized, test-based, rank-order system. It changed to a decentralized, occupation-specific, outcome-monitored system that placed a priority on reducing racial/ethnic disparities in hiring rates. This altered the balance between efficiency, standardization, and representation in the federal workforce over the last four decades.
- This meant one process could screen a broad pool of candidates for analytical, administrative, and professional roles.
- Hiring was largely “rank-ordered”, with high scorers getting first offers.
By eliminating PACE, OPM was required to develop job-related “alternative examining procedures” that reduced statistical “adverse impact” against Black and Hispanic applicants. This gave agencies more hiring discretion, but there was less standardization and comparability across the federal government.
The decree adopted a hiring-rate standard (disparity in actual hires) rather than just pass-rate disparity on a test, which went beyond typical EEOC guidance at the time. This pushed agencies to focus not just on fair testing, but on final hiring outcomes based on race.
Was PACE Successful?
Studies by the Civil Service Commission in the 1970s showed PACE scores correlated strongly with supervisor ratings and job performance in covered occupations.
Agencies could quickly fill jobs by requesting names from the central register, often within days. This was usually faster, sometimes much faster, than the decentralized systems.
The exam also ensured a single standard, ensuring comparability across agencies; a “top score” in one agency was equivalent to a “top score” in other agencies.
White Applicants Scored Higher on Pace
While the test apparently did what it was intended to do in hiring qualified candidates, changing attitudes and expectations were reflected in the Luévano consent agreement as noted above.
The emphasis in the consent agreement was not on hiring successful applicants to perform work for the federal government but on achieving a similar outcome for each racial group.
Despite validation, PACE was criticized for disproportionately screening out minority applicants, particularly Blacks and Hispanics. This disparity in test scores led to allegations of racial bias.
A 1979 GAO study found that 99% of Black applicants and 84% of White applicants were screened out (scoring below 90, the threshold for job consideration), indicating a significant adverse impact on Blacks.
A 1978 study cited pass rates of approximately 42% for Whites, 5% for Blacks, and 13% for Hispanics (passing defined as scoring 70% or higher). Even among those who passed, few Black applicants scored high enough for realistic job consideration.
In effect, PACE did what it was designed to do. It identified candidates most likely to succeed in professional/administrative federal roles. The racial/ethnic score disparities made it unsustainable under changing views of employment discrimination law, leading to the elimination of PACE in the 1981 consent decree.
The elimination of PACE probably led to a mixed impact on federal employee qualifications. The loss of a validated, standardized test and the introduction of programs perceived as prioritizing diversity over merit suggest a potential decline in hiring rigor for some roles. Critics argue that the consent decree’s restrictions hindered hiring the “top talent.”
Alternative assessments and increased diversity may have mitigated these effects. There is no definitive data demonstrating a widespread decline in workforce quality. The GAO’s findings and the absence of clear evidence of reduced performance suggest agencies adapted over time.
Changes in Federal Hiring Process
On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14170. This order directed a complete overhaul of federal hiring practices.
OPM announced the Merit Hiring Plan on May 29, 2025, in response to the Executive Order, and it marked a major change in government employee recruitment and evaluation methods.
- Under the Executive Order, hiring decisions must focus solely on skills and qualifications. Considerations of race, sex, ethnicity, or national origin are explicitly prohibited.
- Also, agencies are barred from collecting or sharing workforce demographic data, reversing previous practices that used such data to shape diversity-focused recruitment and retention strategies.
- All DEI programs, including training, outreach, and diversity councils, were terminated. Agencies were directed to disband DEI offices and cancel related contracts.
- The plan emphasizes modern technology, such as data analytics to identify workforce gaps and digital platforms to improve candidate engagement.
- USAJOBS now generates automated status reports to provide applicants with timely updates on application progress, replacing agency-specific reports.
- Chief Human Capital Officers must submit monthly progress reports starting June 30, 2025, tracking recruitment, assessment usage, time-to-hire, and DEI elimination efforts.
- OPM will create a federal dashboard to monitor compliance, and agencies must train HR staff on new procedures.
- The plan prioritizes strategic partnerships to recruit veterans, aligning with broader goals to target specific communities.
The 2025 Merit Hiring Plan is relevant to the elimination of PACE in 1981 due to the Luévano v. Campbell consent decree. Like PACE, the Merit Hiring Plan emphasizes standardized, merit-focused assessments. It also introduces subjective elements like essays, which differ from PACE’s objective multiple-choice format, but presumably demonstrate a candidate’s ability to write clearly and express thoughts in a coherent manner.
Summary
As a candidate for president, Donald Trump had made clear in his presidential campaign he intended to fundamentally change the federal government. He emphasized an overhaul of the government to prioritize merit, reduce bureaucracy, and eliminate policies he viewed as inefficient or ideologically driven. His list of 20 core promises to “Make America Great Again.” That agenda is now being implemented, and this is part of that package of changes.
The elimination of the 1981 consent decree and the January 2025 Executive Order on reforming the federal hiring process and restoring merit to government service will have an impact on hiring new federal employees. Of course, the hiring freeze may delay full implementation of the new system.
The new approach is not a surprise. The change in the hiring process outlined in this article will impact the human resources program in all federal agencies. OPM has not explicitly indicated a direct rejuvenation or reinstatement of the former PACE plan.
