Trump-aligned legal group fights to restore merit-based federal hiring

FIRST ON FOX — A legal group closely aligned with President Donald Trump is joining a federal court battle in Washington, D.C., to overturn a Carter-era consent decree that bars the government from using merit-based hiring, a resolution that, if overturned, would dissolve one of the most influential civil service decisions of the last 40 years.

The America First Legal Foundation (AFL), a group aligned with Trump, has filed a federal complaint in Washington, D.C., that aims to dismantle what it calls a dated and illegal effort to promote diversity in federal hiring that sidelines more qualified candidates.

"America is missing out on top talent because of an illegal, 44-year-old consent decree," Nick Barry, senior counsel at AFL, told Fox News Digital. "We must move back to merit-bas...