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The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) recently introduced a Merit Hiring Plan to reform federal hiring, emphasizing skills, qualifications, and dedication to constitutional principles over diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) criteria.
The plan, outlined in a May 29 memo, explicitly prohibits the use of race, sex, ethnicity, or other DEI-related factors in hiring, recruitment, and promotion decisions, aiming to eliminate what it calls “discriminatory equity quotas.” Federal agencies are now required to cease collecting demographic data on workforce composition and focus on merit-based assessments. Applicants for positions GS-5 and above must answer essay questions about their patriotism and commitment to advancing President Trump’s executive orders and policies.
The plan also targets recruitment at religious colleges, homeschooling groups, and faith-based organizations to attract “patriotic Americans.” OPM aims to reduce hiring times to under 80 days and implement data analytics to ensure compliance.
Critics argue the guidelines prioritize ideological alignment with Trump’s agenda over objective merit, potentially undermining a century of apolitical civil service traditions. Some federal HR officials warn that the essay questions, including those asking applicants to identify favorite Trump policies, could slow hiring and act as a loyalty test.
The plan aligns with Trump’s executive order to restore merit-based hiring while ending DEI programs, but these changes have sparked debate about balancing meritocracy with the risk of politicizing federal workforce recruitment.
We want to ask you, the reader: should all federal hiring be based exclusively on merit? Answer in our poll below and comment your thoughts on OPM’s new guidelines.
If you cannot see the poll, click here.
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