The America First Legal Foundation (AFL), a group not shy about wearing its Trump-aligned credentials like a badge of honor, has officially stepped into the D.C. legal ring to dismantle a relic of Carter-era policy that’s been clogging up the works for over four decades. That’s right, they’re going after the Luevano consent decree, the granddaddy of affirmative action band-aids, and if successful, it could bring the civil service back to something wild and crazy—like merit.
Now before the pearl-clutchers at MSNBC start panicking, let’s remember what this decree really did. Back in 1981, under the oh-so-enlightened guidance of President Jimmy Carter, the federal government decided that traditional civil service exams were too mean—or, more specifically, disproportionately impacted Black and Hispanic applicants. So they ditched them and replaced them with “alternative assessments,” which is a polite way of saying “vague standards that sound good on a DEI slide deck but don’t actually help anyone.”
This week, my office filed a motion to vacate a decades-old consent decree in Luevano v. OPM, which restricts the Executive Branch from implementing proper and efficient hiring procedures for applicants to federal government service. Read our motion here: https://t.co/WgFqmSmMsS,… pic.twitter.com/Jhb9oUS3jS
— U.S. Attorney Ed Martin (@USAEdMartin) March 13, 2025
And the results? Predictable. A bloated, inefficient hiring system based on identity boxes instead of actual qualifications. Because apparently, knowing how to do the job took a back seat to checking the right demographic boxes. But now, AFL is calling the bluff.
Nick Barry, senior counsel at AFL, summed it up best: “America is missing out on top talent because of an illegal, 44-year-old consent decree.” Translation? We’ve spent decades elevating mediocrity and sidelining competence—all in the name of “equity.” Imagine if NASA hired rocket scientists based on skin color instead of math skills. Sounds ridiculous, right? Welcome to federal hiring in 2025.
And while we’re at it, let’s not ignore that the Office of Personnel Management—the same folks that run HR for Uncle Sam—also thinks the decree has outlived its usefulness. That’s not exactly coming from the Federalist Society, folks. Even the bureaucrats are tired of the red tape. Enter AFL and Boyden Gray, bringing some much-needed legal firepower to help end what they call an illegal and discriminatory system. And here’s the kicker—it just might work.
Of course, the usual suspects are going to scream racism and fascism and whatever other -ism they think sounds scary that day. But let’s be real. This isn’t about turning back the clock to the 1950s. It’s about moving forward from 1981. It’s about recognizing that government workers should be hired based on what they can do, not what box they check on a census form.
Stephen Miller’s fingerprints are all over this, and frankly, that’s a feature, not a bug. Miller’s track record on cutting through D.C. sludge is well-documented, and AFL’s push couldn’t come at a better time. After years of bloated DEI budgets, race-based hiring, and institutional inertia, someone is finally asking the uncomfortable question: What if we just hired the best person for the job?
And yes, we know, the timing is juicy. With the new Trump administration butting heads with what’s left of the federal workforce—many of whom seem to think “resisting” the president is part of their job description—this lawsuit is bound to draw fire. But maybe it’s time someone lit that fire. Maybe it’s time to demand accountability from the same agencies that can’t seem to fill potholes without a 12-step procurement process and a diversity audit.
The Trump DOJ has filed a motion to vacate the Carter-era consent decree from Luévano v. OPM. Most Americans have never heard of it, but this decree abolished a successful, merit-based standardized test that the US government used to hire civil servants, on the grounds that it… https://t.co/d0Y48COvFj
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) March 13, 2025
This lawsuit isn’t just about overturning a dusty consent decree. It’s about restoring a principle that used to be non-negotiable: that the best person should get the job, period. Race, gender, zip code, family history—none of it should matter more than competence. And if that ruffles a few feathers in the DEI department, well, maybe they weren’t all that qualified to begin with.
