To the editor:

Among the changes most important to the Trump administration is the elimination of hiring policies that require, or even include, deference to diversity, equity and inclusion. The administration’s position is that the practice of DEI hiring dilutes competence in both public and private enterprises, and that, in certain vital positions, it even poses a danger to the public. The only criterion that should be considered in hiring, says the administration, is merit.

With respect, I don’t think this insistence on merit will survive judicial review. Look at the plain language of the Constitution: In Articles I and II, the framers explicitly specified no qualifications for even the president and members of Congress (by far the most important offices in the government) other than age and citizenship. Age and citizenship. That’s it. The Founding Fathers were prudent and thoughtful men. It is unthinkable that this is an oversight. Clearly, it was their intention that consideration of merit be given no weight when electing persons to Congress or to the presidency, and for 238 years the American people, in their wisdom, have faithfully honored that intention.

Dan V. Johnson,

Lawrence