Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice to drop cases against different jurisdictions nationwide that deal with hiring police officers and firefighters this week. The previous administration filed these lawsuits, unfairly targeting police and fire departments for screening applicants for police and firefighting positions using common aptitude tests.

Attorney General Bondi stated, “Firefighters and police officers should be selected for their expertise and commitment to public safety, not to fulfill DEI quotas. American communities deserve that.”

In an attempt to further a DEI agenda, the previous administration labeled the aptitude tests in question as discriminatory even though there was no proof of deliberate discrimination—only statistical differences. Additionally, it aimed to force cities to respond by implementing DEI-based hiring practices and allocating millions of taxpayer dollars to compensate prior applicants who performed worse on the tests, regardless of their qualifications.

Attorney General Bondi and President Trump are committed to reestablishing merit-based opportunity and putting an end to unlawful discrimination across the country and in all industries. But for the front-line public safety personnel who defend our country, such as police officers and firefighters, doing so is especially crucial. Public safety is at risk when firefighters and police officers are chosen based on DEI rather than merit.

The dismissal today is a first step in the process of eliminating unlawful DEI preferences in the public and private sectors.