The Feds 104. The Luevano Case: The Future of Federal Hiring Practices | Marcus Thornton | The Feds
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Sep 23, 2025 Marcus Thornton, president and co-founder of Feds For Freedom, discusses the momentous overturning of the 1981 Luevano consent decree, which had institutionalized DEI hiring practices. He explains how subjective hiring methods harmed federal service quality and clashed with merit-based principles. Thornton highlights the importance of objective testing in recruiting and urges a shift back to skills-based standards. He also touches on his organization's fights against federal mandates, censorship issues, and encourages civic engagement for meaningful change.
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Origins Of DEI Hiring Shift
- The Luevano consent decree started federal DEI hiring by banning civil service exams in 1981 and shifting to subjective resume/interview selection.
- That shift removed objective skills testing and made hiring more subjective and prone to discrimination.
What Civil Service Exams Tested
- Civil service exams measured logic, reasoning, and the ability to learn new things rather than rote facts.
- Marcus Thornton argues these tests evaluated core problem-solving skills needed for federal roles.
Subjective Hiring Led To Open Bias
- Thornton describes hiring based on resumes and interviews as subjective and leading to discrimination in recruitment and promotion.
- He notes agencies sometimes openly encouraged minority applicants, discouraging others from applying.