WASHINGTON, DC - President Obama announced today that a new Executive Order has been issued, requiring that former convicts be hired for all federal government jobs.
President Obama unveiled the plan on a visit to a treatment center in New Jersey, a state where Republican Gov. Chris Christie signed a ban the box bill into law last year. Hillary Clinton endorsed ban the box last week, while Republican Sen. Rand Paul also introduced similar federal legislation, with Democrat Cory Booker, to seal criminal records for non-violent offenders.
The White House says it is "encouraged" by such legislation in a new statement, but emphasizes the president's order will take immediate action, mandating that the federal government's HR department consider only ex-felons when filling federal government positions.
President Obama spoke to several federal prisoners about that very approach in July, when he was the first sitting president to visit an American prison.
