Overview

• The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division formally terminated the consent decree from Luevano v. Ezell, ending court oversight of federal hiring exams.
• Enacted in 1981 under President Carter to address racial disparities in civil service testing, the decree had required agency exams to undergo court review.
• Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon hailed the decision as a restoration of merit-based hiring, saying it removes barriers to evaluating candidates solely on competence.
• A complaint by the America First Legal Foundation in May, followed by a department filing, set the stage for the decree’s termination.
• Research psychologist Russell T. Warne warned the decree’s removal could trigger significant reinterpretations of employment provisions under the Civil Rights Act.