Diversity, equity and inclusion polices are retreating nationwide, from the federal government to corporations around the country.
President Donald Trump immediately upon taking office began rooting out diversity, equity and inclusion positions within the federal government by ending programs and removing DEI staff.
Meanwhile, the pressure is also ramping up against private companies to stop embracing DEI.
Several major companies have announced they are cutting back or ending their DEI programs, including Meta, Walmart and McDonalds.
While companies are not cutting as aggressively as Trump, they are at least publicly pulling back from DEI goals and language.
Target reportedly sent out a memo this week to that end.
“Many years of data, insights, listening and learning have been shaping this next chapter in our strategy,” the memo said. “And as a retailer that serves millions of consumers every day, we understand the importance of staying in step with the evolving external landscape, now and in the future – all in service of driving Target’s growth and winning together.”
Costco made headlines for pushing back on the trend of Trump and others, doubling down on their DEI work after shareholders voted nearly unanimously this week to keep the DEI policies in place.
Jeff Raike, who has served on Costco’s board since 2008, encouraged businesses to "maximize DEI efforts" in a column published earlier this month by Forbes. Raike blamed “opportunistic politicians” for trying to “frighten and divide” the nation on the issue.
Costco's board last week, ahead of the shareholder vote, urged investors in the company to reject calls to scale back DEI policies in the company.
"Our success at Costco Wholesale has been built on service to our critical stakeholders: employees, members, and suppliers. Our efforts around diversity, equity and inclusion follow our code of ethics: For our employees, these efforts are built around inclusion – having all of our employees feel valued and respected," the board wrote, according to Fox Business.
Conservative activist Robbie Starbuck, whose public campaigns against companies such as Lowe's, Ford, Molson Coors and others, led them to scale back DEI initiatives, said Costco should do the same or face consequences.
“I suggest conservative consumers find other places to spend their money if Costco is so dedicated to doubling down on DEI," Starbuck wrote on X. "If they’re smart, Costco will do right by their shareholders and change before we turn our attention to them.”
The pressure on private companies is increasing. Ten attorneys general sent a letter now putting pressure on the private sector to end the DEI practices.
The letter went to Bank of America, BlackRock, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley and asked for an accounting of their DEI practices, including whether they broke the law.
"There is, however, mounting concern that political objectives have, in some cases, influenced your decision-making at the expense of your statutory and contractual obligations,” reads the letter, which was signed by the attorneys general of Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Virginia.
“Specifically, you appear to have embraced race- and sex-based quotas and to have made business and investment decisions based not on maximizing shareholder and asset value, but in the furtherance of political agendas."
The anti-DEI effort has been bolstered by a 2023 Supreme Court ruling against affirmative action policies on college campuses.
DEI can lead to hiring or promotion discrimination against white Americans, critics argue. For instance, internal documents at the Pentagon showed discrimination against white Americans for promotions.
“Banks and financial institutions are finally starting to realize that the ESG and DEI policies pushed by radical activist groups are bad for consumers and potentially violate the law,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement. “Unlawful race- and sex-based quotas and so-called ‘green energy’ schemes will not be allowed to stand and I will continue to urge these organizations to uphold the legal obligations they owe to consumers and investors. Any institution found to be violating the law will be held accountable.”
Even before Trump took office, DEI’s corporate decline had begun with companies like Tractor Supply, John Deere and Amazon cutting back DEI programs. Some of those cuts, though, began after Trump won the election in November.
Critics say DEI has become a catch-all term for every liberal and progressive doctrine around race and gender. Until this week, those ideas were backed with federal funding across every federal agency and most of the largest corporations in the U.S.
Now, however, the conservative resistance to DEI has new power and focus on rooting out the DEI programs, which teach everything from white privilege to the litany of gender pronouns to the inherent racism of all white people and the U.S. as a whole.
Trump’s executive actions this week immediately put all DEI federal employees on paid leave with plans to fire all of them in the coming weeks. It also required essentially an audit of all federal DEI activities and DEI contractors, ceasing funding for them as well.
Trump sent a memo to the federal agencies later in the week saying he has seen initial reports that some federal employees are seeking to hide DEI efforts by rebranding or changing the language they are using.
Now, many companies are following suit.
Whether this is a new reality or a temporary setback for DEI remains to be seen.
"Corporate leaders who embrace discriminatory D.E.I. practices should be afraid, but they shouldn’t be confused,” said GianCarlo Canaparo, a legal expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation. “Trump’s order is clear: no organization doing business with the federal government may use discriminatory D.E.I. practices and those that do are subject to non-payment on their federal contracts, federal enforcement, and qui tam suits.
“And any corporation, nonprofit, university, or association subject to federal regulation that engages in D.E.I. discrimination will be identified, publicized, investigated, and punished according to the nation's colorblind civil rights laws,” he added.
