Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington. Miller founded America First Legal after Trump's first term. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The lawsuit targets the Luevano consent decree, an agreement that Black and Hispanic plaintiffs struck with the government under President Jimmy Carter in 1981. The settlement ended merit-based hiring practices for federal government agencies and required written tests to be replaced with alternative assessments.
Critics of these alternative assessments, including AFL and the firm Boyden Gray, PLLC, which joined the complaint, argue they are clunky and outdated solutions that illegally promote an unfair system of race-based hiring.
"We must move back to merit-based evaluations," Barry added. "Race, color and other immutable characteristics have no place in that evaluation."
The Office of Personnel Management had previously asked the court to end the Carter-era system, an effort that AFL and Boyden Gray now join, arguing it violates Supreme Court precedent.
Demonstrators participate in a protest at the statehouse April 5, 2025, in Columbia, S.C. (Sean Rayford/Getty)
America First Legal, though not officially part of the Trump administration, was founded by longtime Trump advisor Stephen Miller, one of Trump's most vocal advocates for tougher immigration enforcement, dismantling DEI programs and ending affirmative action in public education. Miller stepped down from AFL before rejoining the White House in 2025.
The effort also comes at a time when many federal agencies have struggled to cope with a massive loss of personnel and institutional knowledge due to funding cuts and other orders from DOGE, the quasi-government efficiency agency headed up by billionaire Elon Musk.
Still, AFL sees its effort as supporting OPM and ending what it argues is a virtually "impossible" standard to create a broadly used merit-based civil service exam.
"Public service is a public trust," Epstein said. "Presidential administrations from both parties have long advocated ending unaccountable bureaucracies that fail to do a good turn for the American people."
Neither OPM nor the White House immediately responded to Fox News's request for comment on the new court filing or on their views on the existing hiring practices.
Breanne Deppisch is a national politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the Trump administration, with a focus on the Justice Department, FBI, and other national news.
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-aligned-legal-group-fights-restore-merit-based-federal-hiring