WASHINGTON D.C. — On Monday, Representative Jim Jordan sent a letter to the FBI expressing concerns about the agency’s hiring and retention practices, especially what he says is its emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
In the letter, Jordan, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, claims that the FBI’s DEI initiatives are disqualifying qualified candidates from the bureau.
He referenced a recent report detailing “alarming trends” in the FBI’s recruitment and selection process, including a decline in the number of applicants from elite law enforcement agencies and a corresponding drop in the number of people interested in applying to the bureau.
According to Jordan, the FBI’s hiring standards have been relaxed and requirements have been lowered in categories such as physical fitness, illicit drug use, financial irregularities, mental health, full-time work experience, and integrity.
He claims that these changes are a clear indication that the bureau is not hiring the best and brightest candidates for the position of special agent.
The letter demands that the FBI provide Jordan with a detailed explanation of its hiring and retention practices and its use of so-called DEI initiatives.
It also requests that the bureau provide information on the number of applicants it has had on file for the position of special agent over the past several years and the number of new agents that have graduated annually from the FBI Academy.
Jordan’s letter raises serious questions about the credibility of the FBI’s DEI initiatives.
He argues that the bureau’s focus on hiring diverse candidates is at odds with its stated goal of providing an impartial and competent law enforcement agency.
Excerpts are included here:
“On Inauguration Day, President Biden issued his first Executive Order promulgating DEI programs within the whole of Executive Branch. A few months later, on April 21, 2021, you announced the hiring of the FBI’s first Chief Diversity Officer, Scott McMillon.
“From that time forward, we understand that the FBI has struggled with attracting enough qualified applicants from all desired target groups to sustain its mission. This is likely due to the FBI re-focusing its recruitment efforts on DEI statistics.
“In October 2023, a group of retired FBI Special Agents and Analysts, many of whom held senior positions of trust and authority within the FBI, authored a report detailing ‘alarming trends’ in the FBI’s recruitment and selection process. The detailed, 112-page report highlighted several troubling findings, including that:
“The law enforcement and intelligence capabilities of the FBI are degrading because the FBI is no longer hiring ‘the best and brightest’ candidates to fill the position of Special Agent of the FBI.
“An increasing number of lower quality candidates — described by one source as ‘bread crumbs’ because they were rejected by other federal law enforcement agencies — are applying to become FBI Special Agents; and the FBI is selecting those candidates to become FBI Special Agents because they satisfy the FBI’s priority to meet Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) mandates …
“The FBI’s Special Agent hiring numbers are down, likely due to the decline in the Nation’s trust in the FBI and a corresponding decrease in the number of individuals interested in applying to the FBI for employment.
“To more easily accommodate a larger pool of available applicants, FBI Special Agent hiring standards have been relaxed and requirements measurably lowered in categories that include physical fitness, illicit drug use, financial irregularities, mental health, full-time work experience, and integrity.
“With respect to the decreasing numbers of applicants cited above, the Committee and the Select Subcommittee have been informed by whistleblowers — both active duty and retired FBI Special Agents — that from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s, the FBI had over 100,000 applications on file at any given time for the position of Special Agent.
“During that time, roughly 1,000 new agents — or one percent of those who applied — graduated annually from the FBI Academy.
“By contrast, in February 2024, FBI Assistant Director for the Training Division Jacqueline Maguire reported that the FBI currently only has an estimated 48,000 applications for the position of Special Agent on file.
“The FBI’s hyper-fixation on hitting Biden Administration-imposed DEI initiatives, rather than qualifications that make the best federal law enforcement candidates and officers, has created a climate within the FBI that puts the American public and American civil liberties at risk.
“For example, well-documented incidents like the FBI Richmond Field Office’s infamous Catholic memo, the armed, pre-dawn raid on the residence of pro-life advocate Mark Houck, and the FBI’s nefarious role in ensuring the Hunter Biden laptop story was suppressed and censored from the American people weeks before the presidential election have all contributed to the public’s lack of confidence in the FBI’s ability to execute its mission in an impartial and competent manner.”
Below is the full letter.