PACE Exam Biased Against Minorities
False Assumption: The scientifically developed PACE federal civil service hiring exam was fatally biased against blacks and Latinos.
Written by FARAgent on February 10, 2026
In 1979, Angel Luevano, a Mexican-American who failed the federal Professional and Administrative Career Examination (PACE), sued the government. He claimed the test was biased against blacks and Latinos because of racial gaps in scores. The Carter administration, through officials in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Justice Department, chose not to fight. They settled in 1981 with the Luevano Consent Decree, which banned PACE and required any replacement exams to show no adverse impact on minorities. Proponents argued that disparate scores proved fatal bias, despite the test's scientific validation for 118 positions.
The decree held for over four decades. It forced federal hiring to rely on subjective resumes, interviews, and biodata, which proved less reliable. The Office of Personnel Management developed six new exams and the Administrative Careers With America program, but abandoned them due to similar score gaps. Administrations from Reagan to Biden failed to create a viable replacement, allowing the assumption to entrench anti-competence practices in civil service.
The assumption was wrong. Experts now recognize that PACE was not fatally biased; score gaps reflected real differences in skills, not invalid design. In 2025, under Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon, the Trump administration ended the decree, restoring merit-based testing. The debate is settled: the bias claim lacked merit.
People Involved
- In the late 1970s, Jimmy Carter's administration took the lead in challenging the PACE exam. They surrendered to plaintiffs in the Luevano case and declared the test biased against blacks and Latinos. [1] Officials in the EEOC and Justice Department conspired to abolish it through the Luevano Consent Decree, framing the move as a step toward racial equity. [2]
- Angel Luevano, a Mexican-American who failed the exam, lent his name to the lawsuit sponsored by the EEOC as a pretext to scrap the test. [2]
- Later administrations under Reagan, Clinton, Obama, and Biden upheld the assumption by failing to develop a replacement where minorities scored as well as whites and Asians. [1]
- Under Trump, Harmeet K. Dhillon, as Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights Division, worked to end the decree and restore merit-based hiring. [1]
▶ Supporting Quotes (5)
“Perhaps the most egregious action of the Carter Administration was deep-sixing the federal civil service hiring exam in January 1981 by surrendering to friendly plaintiffs in the Luevano discrimination case”— Trump Trashes Carter's Infamous Luevano Decree
“Not surprisingly, the Reagan Administration failed to do so, as did the Clinton, Obama, and Biden Administrations, along with everybody else.”— Trump Trashes Carter's Infamous Luevano Decree
““For over four decades, this decree has hampered the federal government from hiring the top talent of our nation,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division.”— Trump Trashes Carter's Infamous Luevano Decree
“the EEOC tacitly sponsored a lawsuit and filed it under the name of a Mexican-American plaintiff who had failed the test, Angel Luevano.”— Trump Administration does something smart
“For two years the Carter administration quietly conspired with liberal public interest law firms, the purported opponents in the suit. And as it was packing up, the Carter Justice Department signed a consent decree.”— Trump Administration does something smart
Organizations Involved
The Carter Administration's Justice Department settled the Luevano case in 1981, enforcing the view that the PACE exam was biased and banning its use. [1] The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sponsored the lawsuit to eliminate disparate impact in federal hiring exams. [2] For over four decades, the Office of Personnel Management remained bound by the decree, struggling to create replacement tests without adverse effects on certain groups. [2] Under Trump, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division moved to remove the decree, aiming to bring back objective hiring standards. [1]
▶ Supporting Quotes (4)
“by surrendering to friendly plaintiffs in the Luevano discrimination case by declaring that the 7 year old, highly scientific PACE test was fatally biased against blacks and Latinos”— Trump Trashes Carter's Infamous Luevano Decree
““Today, the Justice Department removed that barrier and reopened federal employment opportunities based on merit—not race.””— Trump Trashes Carter's Infamous Luevano Decree
“the Carter administration's Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and its allies on the left... the EEOC tacitly sponsored a lawsuit.”— Trump Administration does something smart
“More than forty years later, the Luevano Consent Decree still binds OPM [Office of Personnel Management] and every other executive branch agency. But OPM has struggled to develop any test that meets the Decree’s stringent adverse impact.”— Trump Administration does something smart
The Foundation
The assumption took root because racial score gaps on the PACE test were seen as proof of fatal bias. The exam had been developed scientifically over seven years, yet this view held that equivalent tests could be made for all groups. [1] Disparate impacts on blacks and Hispanics were cited to invalidate the test, despite its validation for 118 positions. This ignored basic psychometrics and led to the false belief that no valid test could exist without equal racial scores. [2] The Luevano Consent Decree mandated exams free of adverse impact, promoting subjective methods like biodata self-ratings as better alternatives, even though they lowered validity. [2]
▶ Supporting Quotes (3)
“declaring that the 7 year old, highly scientific PACE test was fatally biased against blacks and Latinos, and the incoming Reagan Administration could no doubt concoct a predictively valid test on which the Carter Administration’s favored minorities would perform just as well as whites and Asians.”— Trump Trashes Carter's Infamous Luevano Decree
“That’s pretty much the fundamental law of psychometrics: you can have a valid test or you can have a test on which the races score equally, but you can’t have both.”— Trump Administration does something smart
“biographical data “self-rating sections” (e.g., “Are you a hard worker?”) tend to produce more racially equal scores than questions with objective answers.”— Trump Administration does something smart
How It Spread
The idea gained traction through the legal settlement in the Luevano case, which bound federal hiring policy for decades. Mainstream media offered little scrutiny. [1] It spread via a rigged lawsuit and a consent decree approved by a selected judge. This decree enforced the assumption legally across federal agencies for 44 years. [2]
▶ Supporting Quotes (2)
“So far, practically nobody in the mainstream media has yet reported on the epochal overthrow of the Luevano consent decree, including, the Washington Post, which you might think would be closely following civil service exam issues.”— Trump Trashes Carter's Infamous Luevano Decree
“the Carter Justice Department signed a consent decree, approved by a picked judge, junking the civil service examination.”— Trump Administration does something smart
Resulting Policies
In January 1981, the Luevano consent decree banned the PACE exam and similar merit-based tests in federal civil service hiring. [1] The decree required new exams without adverse impact on blacks and Hispanics. This shift led to the adoption of subjective hiring tools like resumes and interviews. [2]
▶ Supporting Quotes (2)
“deep-sixing the federal civil service hiring exam in January 1981 by surrendering to friendly plaintiffs in the Luevano discrimination case”— Trump Trashes Carter's Infamous Luevano Decree
“The outgoing Carter Justice officials declared that no exam could replace PACE until a valid one without adverse impact on blacks and Hispanics could be devised.”— Trump Administration does something smart
Harm Caused
For over four decades, the decree blocked the federal government from hiring top talent. It fostered anti-competence practices in staffing. [1] Hiring moved to less valid methods, such as subjective resumes, interviews, and biodata forms. These proved more ethnically biased and weakened state capacity for 44 years. [2] The Office of Personnel Management abandoned six post-decree exams, including the highly valid ACWA, due to adverse impact. Agencies resorted to poor predictors like self-rating forms. [2]
▶ Supporting Quotes (3)
“For over four decades, this decree has hampered the federal government from hiring the top talent of our nation”— Trump Trashes Carter's Infamous Luevano Decree
“most federal jobs have been awarded by various temporary makeshift methods involving high degrees of subjectivity (making hiring more ethnically biased was, of course, the point of Luevano).”— Trump Administration does something smart
“those selection methods which were most valid also had the greatest adverse impact... The MSPB supported the use of the ACWA written examination because it was “better at predicting future job performance” than the “temporary hiring authorities established under Luevano.””— Trump Administration does something smart
Downfall
The assumption proved wrong, as it was widely recognized to be false. Last week, the Trump Administration ended the 44-year Luevano consent decree. This allowed the reinstatement of legitimate merit-based exams. [1] The administration's filing argued that the decree clashed with Supreme Court precedents against racial quotas for statistical parity. [2] The Merit Systems Protection Board had found the ACWA superior, but adverse impact forced its abandonment. Agencies turned to inferior tools, which highlighted the decree's failure. [2]
▶ Supporting Quotes (3)
“Finally, after 44 years of anti-competence mischief, the Trump Administration has cut the Gordian knot by junking the Luevano consent decree last week”— Trump Trashes Carter's Infamous Luevano Decree
“The Luevano Consent Decree directly conflicts with multiple Supreme Court decisions from the intervening decades... this kind of blatant racial favoritism is not permitted under current Supreme Court precedent.”— Trump Administration does something smart
“the MSPB has found that it “is far less able to predict future performance.””— Trump Administration does something smart
Sources
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[1]
Trump Trashes Carter's Infamous Luevano Decreereputable_journalism
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[2]
Trump Administration does something smartreputable_journalism