The Biden-Harris Department of (In)Justice is where common sense goes to die. This week, two stories came to light regarding the DOJ’s attack on police officers and firefighters. In both instances, the DOJ accused the powers that be of racism in their hiring practices of first responders. And by “racism,” it really means that these departments shouldn’t have any standards except filling racial quotas.

In other words, exchange exceptionalism for racism.

The state of Maryland decided to settle with the federal government to the tune of $2.75 million because of “discriminatory hiring practices” in police departments. These ostensibly iniquitous hiring practices have to do with two of the tests that potential recruits need to pass in order to join the force — the Functional Fitness Assessment Test (FFAT) and the Police Officer Selection Test (POST). Apparently, the tests discriminate against either women or black people.

The fitness test supposedly excludes women. However, according to the findings of National Review’s Kayla Bartsch, here is what some of the physical expectations are:

The Functional Fitness Assessment Test (FFAT) measures an applicant’s “fitness level and physical preparedness for the Academy.” The criteria are standard and basic. Applicants must be able to complete the following in one go:

Push-Ups: eighteen (18) — No time limit Sit-Ups: twenty-seven (27) — No time limit Flexibility: (while seated) 1.5 Mile Run: maximum time of 15 minutes and 20 seconds (15:20)

Yours truly is seven months postpartum. I could do all of these. How is this discriminatory? Frankly, the more sane question should be: Why aren’t the physical standards higher given the demands on police officers?

Here is an example of the supposedly racist POST test:

1. On Tuesday, Officer Jones worked the 3 p.m.-11 p.m. shift. At 10:55 p.m. he was called to the scene of an accident where he remained until 1:30 a.m. How long past his regular shift did Officer Jones work?

(A) 55 minutes

(B) 1 hour, 50 minutes

© 2 hours

(D) 2 hours, 30 minutes

(E) 3 hours, 5 minutes

This is basic math that most elementary-school-aged kids could solve. However, the DOJ noticed there was a disparity in that black applicants were not performing as well as white applicants on this test. As Bartsch went on to quip, “The ‘significantly disproportionate’ outcomes between white and black POST-takers in Maryland is more damning of the state’s public-education system than anything else.”

Maryland isn’t the only place to face a lawsuit from the DOJ over “discriminatory practices.” Durham, North Carolina’s fire departments are also under scrutiny, with the DOJ demanding that they change their testing practices. Like Maryland’s Police Officer Selection Test, Durham’s Comprehensive Examination Battery Test seeks to decipher whether applicants have basic reading, writing, and mathematics skills as well as rudimentary ethics.

Durham didn’t hire those who couldn’t pass the test, and the DOJ cried foul. The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh, who did his own deep dive into this ridiculous story, summed up the DOJ’s motivations perfectly:

It’s the same reason the Obama administration harassed so many police officers. It’s the same reason they decided that the entrance exam for air traffic controllers was racist. The people running this country have determined that they’ll gain more power, and more profit, if they promote certain racial groups at the expense of others. They don’t care about competence. They only care about this new racial spoils system they’ve created.

It’s disordered and geared toward destroying our society. Having standards for physical and academic acuity isn’t racist or sexist. It’s discriminatory in a good way. Would you really want a first responder, a public servant, to be unable to perform their duties? Having a base-level standard shouldn’t be much to ask for. Denying these departments a standard by which to eliminate unsuitable candidates is failing the community at large.

The Biden-Harris DOJ is guilty of the bigotry of low expectations and using lawfare to push a ridiculous ideology that no one voted for. If Elon Musk is permitted to pursue the Government Efficiency Commission, he would be wise to begin with sorting out the DOJ.