In May 2025, the Trump administration implemented a controversial ‘Merit Hiring Plan’ requiring federal job applicants at GS-5 and above to write essays about Trump’s policies. Applicants must describe how they would advance specific executive orders, effectively creating an ideological screening …
Federal job candidates required to confirm January 6 was an ‘inside job’ and 2020 election was ‘stolen,’ with social media screening for MAGA loyalty indicators and campaign participation required for new hires.
Loyalty testing regime implemented requiring federal job applicants to write essays explaining how they’d advance Trump’s executive orders, with social media screening for MAGA support becoming standard hiring practice.
OPMWhite House Personnel Officefederal-workforceloyalty-testspolitical-screeninghiring-practices
Monica Goodling, White House liaison and senior counsel to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, testified under immunity that she violated federal law by applying political loyalty tests to career Justice Department positions. A 1999 graduate of Pat Robertson’s Regent University Law School, …