Attorney General Pam Bondi ended federal lawsuits that the Biden administration had filed against local police and fire departments over their merit-based hiring policies.
Under the Biden administration, the DOJ’s Office of Civil Rights sued local first responders for prioritizing merit in hiring rather than making race-based decisions.
“Despite no evidence of intentional discrimination—only statistical disparities—the prior administration branded the aptitude tests at issue in these cases as discriminatory to advance a DEI agenda,” the DOJ said in a news release.
“And it sought to coerce cities into conducting DEI-based hiring in response and spending millions of dollars in taxpayer funds for payouts to previous applicants who had scored lower on the tests, regardless of qualifications,” the news release added. READ MORE