In a major victory for merit and common sense, the Justice Department under President Donald J. Trump has officially terminated a four-decade-old consent decree that shackled federal hiring with race-based mandates and outdated diversity frameworks.

The ruling in Luevano v. Ezell, a relic of the Carter administration, was quietly dismissed this week — bringing an end to an era in which bureaucrats were forced to prioritize racial outcome parity over actual job qualifications.

Originally imposed in 1981, the consent decree mandated that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) subject all standardized federal hiring assessments to federal approval. The goal, back then, was to enforce so-called “equal results” across racial groups — a concept now widely discredited as anti-meritocratic and legally questionable.

But under President Trump’s second term, the Justice Department has made clear that such race-conscious hiring mandates have no place in a government that seeks the best talent America has to offer.

“It’s simple, competence and merit are the standards by which we should all be judged; nothing more and nothing less,” said Jeanine Pirro, newly confirmed U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, in her first public statement since her Senate confirmation.

Pirro also echoed a famous quote from civil rights hero Martin Luther King Jr., saying:

“It’s about time people are judged, not by their identity, but instead ‘by the content of their character.’”

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division also celebrated the decision.

“For over four decades, this decree has hampered the federal government from hiring the top talent of our nation,” Dhillon said. “Today, the Justice Department removed that barrier and reopened federal employment opportunities based on merit—not race.”

The shift marks another step in President Trump’s broader push to dismantle the Left’s institutional grip on the federal government and restore constitutionally grounded governance based on individual rights, not identity politics.

Pirro, a former Westchester County district attorney, New York judge, and Fox News host, was officially confirmed by a 50-45 Senate vote on Saturday. Though she had served as interim U.S. Attorney since May, her nomination had been stalled by Senate Democrats who objected to her public support of Trump’s 2020 election fraud claims and her vocal criticism of the DOJ’s handling of January 6 prosecutions.

Despite obstruction from the Left, President Trump stood firm.

“Jeanine is incredibly well-qualified for this position, and is considered one of the Top District Attorneys in the History of the State of New York,” Trump said upon nominating her. “She is in a class by herself.”

Pirro’s nomination came after Trump’s initial pick, Ed Martin, failed to gain enough Republican support due to concerns raised by outgoing Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.).

Senate Democrats staged a dramatic walkout last month during Pirro’s confirmation hearing, attempting to derail both her nomination and that of U.S. District Judge Emil Bove. Both were confirmed by razor-thin party-line votes.

Critics on the Left claimed Pirro would act as a partisan enforcer for Trump’s America First agenda — but as conservatives rightly point out, that’s no different from how U.S. Attorneys operated under Presidents Obama and Biden.

And while the Left wrings its hands over Pirro’s confirmation, Trump supporters are pointing to mounting evidence that may vindicate claims about the 2020 election. Last week, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard confirmed in an interview with Benny Johnson that the federal government knew of serious vulnerabilities in the election — reigniting questions about what exactly happened in 2020.

As for Pirro, her message was simple: America should no longer be held hostage by bureaucratic DEI mandates.

Now, for the first time in over 40 years, federal agencies can hire based on merit — not skin color.