This kind of acquihire thing is common in the private sector and can often make sense. It's much more valuable to acquire people as a team rather than have to build up the team person by person over time.

You think when Google, Meta, etc acquires a company they will bother to make the staff leetcode and go through interview processes? These are nothing more than bureaucratic formalities.

Many public servants complain about their org's bureaucratic culture, but when somebody tries to do the right thing like in this instance, also complain....