Trump’s OPM director details merit-based overhaul of federal hiring
Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor outlines how the Trump administration is transforming the federal government by prioritizing merit over DEI. He details the elimination of self-attestation, implementation of skills-based assessments and efforts to boost accountability for underperforming employees. These reforms aim to cut waste and restore performance across the 2.2 million-strong federal workforce.
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FIRST ON FOX: The Trump administration on Wednesday took another step in its sweeping campaign to eliminate DEI policies from the federal government, removing decades-old hiring guidelines that officials say encouraged race-conscious employment decisions in favor of a renewed emphasis on merit-based hiring.
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a final interim rule on Thursday that removes references to the 1978 Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures, which govern employee selection standards, citing a recent Justice Department legal opinion that found the guidelines unconstitutional in the way they encouraged race-conscious decision-making.
The move affects how federal agencies approach hiring by eliminating references to longstanding guidance centered on “disparate impact,” the idea that hiring practices that could produce unequal outcomes among racial groups can be legally problematic even absent intentional discrimination.
Administration officials argue those guidelines pressured employers to focus on racial outcomes rather than qualifications, while supporters of the guidelines contend they help guard against subtle forms of discrimination.
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U.S. President Donald Trump takes questions from the media during a bilateral meeting with President of Lebanon Joseph Aoun in the Oval Office of the White House on July 21, 2026 in Washington, DC (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“Federal hiring should be based on merit, qualifications, and the ability to perform the job,” OPM Director Scott Kupor said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“This rule ensures OPM’s regulations reflect legal guidance while preserving the rigorous, job-related standards that help agencies recruit and hire the most qualified workforce in service to the American people.”
The rule took effect immediately after it was published in the Federal Register on Thursday but will remain open for public comment for 60 days before OPM decides whether to make it permanent.
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Hundreds protest outside a rally held by President Donald Trump at Macomb County Community College in Warren, MI, on April 29, 2025. (Getty Images/Dominic Gwinn)
OPM serves as the federal government’s human resources agency, setting hiring, personnel and workforce policies for roughly 2 million civilian federal employees across executive branch agencies. It oversees the rules governing how federal agencies recruit, hire, promote and manage their workforces.
This move serves as the latest example of the administration moving beyond simply shutting down DEI offices or ending diversity training and now targeting the legal and regulatory framework that critics argue enabled DEI policies in the first place.
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The U.S. Office of Personnel Management building in Washington June 5, 2015. In the latest in a string of intrusions into U.S. agencies’ high-tech systems, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) suffered what appeared to be one of the largest breaches of information ever on government workers. The office handles employee records and security clearances. REUTERS/Gary Cameron
Since the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term, the administration has highlighted hundreds of colleges that have rolled back DEI initiatives, along with policy changes involving transgender athletic participation, parental rights, race-conscious programs and merit-based admissions.
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They also dismantled federal DEI programs, terminated DEI-related grants and contracts, cut ties with companies embracing DEI policies, required federal contractors to comply with the administration’s requirements, and warned schools they could lose federal funding over certain DEI practices.