4 weeks ago
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PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: The Trump administration is rolling out its Merit Hiring Plan for federal agencies, releasing new guidance on Thursday that replaces decades of DEI-style polices with one that focuses on applicants’ skills rather than their race or gender.
👥 Who’s Involved: President Donald J. Trump, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), federal agencies, federal hiring managers, and federal job applicants.
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📍 Where & When: The policy was released on Thursday through guidance issued to agencies across the federal government.
⚠️ Impact: President Trump’s Merit Hiring Plan marks a significant shift in federal employment practices that will now focus on bringing high-skilled individuals for critical roles. The plan also ends race and gender based hiring practices that critics contend created discriminatory political constituencies inside the government workforce.
IN FULL:
President Donald J. Trump‘s administration is set to unveil a new federal employment policy focused on merit-based hiring instead of the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) requirements that have dominated government employment for decades. The new hiring guidance, released to federal agencies on Thursday by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), is believed to bar the consideration of race and gender in employment decisions.
Based on legislation adopted last year in Congress, and ushered through by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, the Merit Hiring Plan provides guidance for federal hiring and instructs agencies to consider relevant skills beyond just resume experience. Notably, this provision has long been pushed by conservative education activists and technology industry figures who contend that college education requirements lock out too many qualified individuals from the professional workforce.
Skill-based hiring evaluations will be made through interviews and relevant testing of applicants, though resumes and professional experience will still be considered determining factors in hiring decisions.
Additionally, federal agencies are being directed to continue collecting workforce demographic data. However, this data will no longer be released publicly and will merely be retained by the federal government to ensure its policies promote a workforce with diverse skills and professional qualifications.
Another significant change comes through guidance meant to speed up federal hiring processes. Federal interviewers will now ask applicants a more standardized set of questions rather than the previous more ad-hoc process. This is aimed at ensuring federal hirings take no longer than 80 days.
Once implemented, the federal government is expected to begin a more modest hiring period to restaff certain agencies. After being inaugurated in January, President Trump and his White House dismissed upwards of 140,000 federal workers through force reduction or employment buyouts. The Trump administration has indicated it could soon move forward with the dismissal of another 150,000 federal employees, while also bringing in new individuals to fill critical roles.
PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: An 18-year-old U.S. Air Force recruit, Ava Moore, was killed by a jet ski on Grapevine Lake, Texas, over Memorial Day weekend.
👥 Who’s Involved: Venezuelan nationals Daikerlyn Alejandra Gonzalez-Gonzalez, 22, and Maikel Coello Perozo, 21, both in the U.S. illegally, are facing charges related to the killing.
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📍 Where & When: Grapevine Lake, Texas; May 25, 2023.
💬 Key Quote: “This criminal alien and her boyfriend will account for the tragic accident that ended the life of a young woman who exhibited enormous potential,” said Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Dallas Acting Field Office Director Josh Johnson.
⚠️ Impact: The case highlights ongoing concerns about illegal immigration and public safety. Notably, Gonzalez appears to have attempted to flee the scene after the fatal collision.
IN FULL:
Two Venezuelan nationals, both in the U.S. illegally, are now facing criminal charges following the death of 18-year-old Ava Moore, a U.S. Air Force recruit, in a jet ski collision on Grapevine Lake, Texas, over Memorial Day weekend.
Daikerlyn Alejandra Gonzalez-Gonzalez, 22, was arrested on May 27 and charged with second-degree felony manslaughter. Authorities allege that Gonzalez was operating the jet ski that struck Moore as she kayaked near Oak Grove Park on May 25. Witnesses reported that the jet ski was being driven recklessly along the shoreline before the crash.
After the collision, Gonzalez allegedly fled the scene in a vehicle driven by 21-year-old Maikel Coello Perozo, who is now charged with hindering apprehension. The pair were apprehended following a standoff at a residence in the Dallas area.
According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Gonzalez entered the U.S. illegally on September 28, 2022, but was released the same day with a Notice to Appear. Coello reportedly entered the country illegally in January 2023 but was also released pending an immigration hearing.
“This criminal alien and her boyfriend will account for the tragic accident that ended the life of a young woman who exhibited enormous potential,” stated Josh Johnson, acting Field Office Director for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in Dallas.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R), who has taken state-level measures to crack down on illegal immigration and those in the country unlawfully who commit violent crimes, wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter) following the fatal crash: “Welcome to Texas. Here’s your death penalty.”
The U.S. Air Force Academy remembered Moore as a driven individual with leadership potential. “Her constant happiness and attitude helped her squadron get through the challenges of the Prep School,” said Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind, Superintendent of the Academy.
Moore had been visiting her family in North Texas for the holiday weekend when she was killed.
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