As part of President Donald Trump's plans to end racist DEI policies, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has directed the Department of Justice (DOJ)'s Civil Rights Division to dismiss several Biden-era lawsuits involving the hiring of police officers and firefighters on the basis of merit.
These lawsuits, launched by the Biden-Harris administration, "unjustly targeted" various fire and police departments across the country for using standard aptitude tests to screen candidates, according to a DOJ press release issued Wednesday.
Despite no evidence of intentional discrimination, per the Trump DOJ, only statistical disparities, Biden officials branded the aptitude tests as discriminatory. This effort sought to coerce cities into conducting DEI-based hiring and spending millions of dollars in taxpayer funds for payouts to previous applicants who had scored lower on the tests, regardless of qualifications.
"American communities deserve firefighters and police officers to be chosen for their skill and dedication to public safety – not to meet DEI quotas," Bondi said in a statement.
Under Bondi, the DOJ is now dedicated to ending racial discrimination in the name of DEI and restoring merit-based opportunities nationwide. This issue is particularly important for frontline workers who protect the American people, according to the Trump DOJ, and prioritizing DEI over merit when selecting our firefighters and cops thereby jeopardizes public safety.
On February 5, Bondi circulated an internal memo within the DOJ explaining that the department's Civil Rights Division will "investigate, eliminate, and penalize illegal DEI and DEIA preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities in the private sector and in educational institutions that receive federal funds."
Wednesday's dismissal is an early step toward "eradicating" such DEI practices across the government and in the private sector, the Trump DOJ touted.