House Bill 622, known as the "Dismantle DEI Act," aims to amend various sections of the Tennessee Code Annotated concerning the hiring practices of governmental entities, including county, municipal, and metropolitan governments, as well as public institutions of higher education. The bill emphasizes that hiring decisions should be based solely on merit, asserting that local governments are most effective when employing the most qualified candidates. It explicitly prohibits these entities from basing hiring decisions on metrics related to an applicant's race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability, and from hiring candidates to meet diversity, equity, or inclusion goals.

The bill introduces new legal language across multiple titles of the Tennessee Code Annotated, reinforcing the principle that merit should be the sole criterion for hiring within governmental entities. This includes provisions that prevent local and higher education institutions from considering diversity-related metrics in their hiring processes. The act is set to take effect immediately upon becoming law, emphasizing the urgency of its implementation for the public welfare.