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A Justice Department official said the administration is walking
away from four cases, including one that led to a settlement
agreement resolving an investigation into discriminatory hiring
practices affecting Black and female applicants to the Maryland
State Police. It's part of a broader effort by President Donald
Trump's administration to roll back initiatives and programs
promoting diversity, equity and inclusion, which Republicans
contend threaten merit-based hiring.
“American communities deserve firefighters and police officers
to be chosen for their skill and dedication to public safety –
not to meet DEI quotas,” the attorney general said in an emailed
statement.
In the Maryland case, the Biden administration announced in
October that it had reached an agreement with state police to
change the ways applicants are tested after the department
alleged police used a written test that discriminated against
Black candidates and a physical fitness test that discriminated
against female applicants.
The Biden administration found the tests disqualified Black and
female applicants from the hiring process at significantly
disproportionate rates, concluding that the tests violated a
federal statute that prohibits employment discrimination based
on race, sex, color, national origin, and religion.
Bondi's chief of staff, Chad Mizelle, said in a social media
post that the Biden administration had sought to punish police
and fire departments “for using race-neutral hiring tools," even
though he said there is “no evidence that the departments
engaged in intentional discrimination.”
Maryland State Police did not immediately respond to a request
for comment Wednesday evening.
Other cases were related to fire or police departments in North
Carolina, Georgia, and Indiana, Mizelle said.
Trump signed an order on his first day in office directing
federal agencies to terminate all “equity-related” grants or
contracts. He signed a follow-up order requiring federal
contractors to certify that they don’t promote DEI.
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