Earlier this year, President Trump rescinded Executive Order 11246, which required federal contractors to follow an affirmative action system based on identity-based quotas for six decades. As a result, the Department of Labor is now considering a proposed rule that would end these mandates.
Independent Women has launched a regulatory comment drive called Support Merit-Based Hiring: Qualifications Over Quotas. The campaign encourages the public to submit comments supporting the Department of Labor’s proposed rule to eliminate quotas and promote merit-based hiring in federal contracting.
If adopted, the proposed rule would remove race- and sex-based requirements for federal contractors. It would also do away with workforce benchmarks and placement goals for women and minorities, aiming to restore fairness and flexibility in hiring practices.
Neeraja Deshpande, policy analyst at Independent Women, said, “Ironically, identity-based hiring actually hurts the women and minorities it claims to help by pushing the idea that they don’t have merits on which to get hired fairly. The Department of Labor’s rule change would reestablish Americans’ confidence that their tax dollars are going toward hiring the most qualified people, regardless of race and sex.”
The public comment period for this proposal is open until September 17th at 11:59 PM ET.
This initiative follows another recent effort by Independent Women that focused on expanding access to in-home care for aging Americans. That campaign resulted in more than 1,500 submitted comments from citizens.
The current comment drive is part of Independent Women’s ongoing work to advocate for merit-based employment over quota systems. Their grassroots journalism arm has published accounts from individuals who say they were negatively affected by diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in their workplaces. These stories include cases involving Secret Service personnel, educators, sorority members, parents petitioning government officials about school policies, and federal scientists challenging DEI practices.
