Meritocracy Mandate: End Punishments for Skills-Over-Demographics Hiring
Published Date: 4/28/2025
Presidential Document
Summary
This new order stops rules that punish businesses for hiring based on skills instead of race or sex. It helps everyone get a fair shot by focusing on what people can do, not who they are. Starting now, employers can make job decisions based on merit without fearing unfair lawsuits, boosting real opportunities and protecting the American Dream.
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 3 mixed.
Federal Agencies Deprioritize Disparate-Impact Enforcement
The order directs all federal agencies to deprioritize enforcement of statutes and regulations that include disparate-impact liability, including 42 U.S.C. 2000e-2 and provisions in 28 C.F.R. 42.104(b)(2)-(3), 42.104(b)(6)(ii), and 42.104(c)(2). The directive is part of a policy to "eliminate the use of disparate-impact liability in all contexts to the maximum degree possible," effective with the order dated April 23, 2025.
Pending Cases and Consent Judgments to Be Reassessed on Short Timelines
The order requires the Attorney General and agency heads to report and act on existing rules and to reassess pending matters: within 30 days a report identifying regulations and steps to amend or repeal them; within 45 days reviews of pending investigations or civil suits that rely on disparate-impact theories; and within 90 days evaluation of existing consent judgments and permanent injunctions that rely on disparate-impact theories.
Revoked Presidential Approvals of Title VI Regulations
The order revokes prior Presidential approvals of Department of Justice Title VI regulations: the July 25, 1966 approval (31 Fed. Reg. 10269) as applied to 28 C.F.R. 42.104(b)(2) in full, and the July 5, 1973 approval (38 Fed. Reg. 17955) as applied to the words "or effect" in 28 C.F.R. 42.104(b)(3) and to 28 C.F.R. 42.104(b)(6)(ii) and 42.104(c)(2) in full.
Guidance Encouraging Hiring Based on Skills, Not College Degree
The Attorney General and the Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission must jointly issue guidance or technical assistance to employers on methods to promote equal access to employment regardless of whether an applicant has a college education. This action is directed in Section 7(b) of the order dated April 23, 2025.
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