Part of President Donald Trump‘s whirlwind of second term initiatives includes the boisterous dismantling of DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) policies wherever they are found in the federal government.
Trump’s full-scale attack on diversity policy also extends beyond the federal government. The administration’s efforts to eradicate any and all instances of preferential treatment for minority or marginalized groups extends deep into the private sector too, as the Department of Justice plans to target corporations for DEI efforts that critics denounce as “reverse discrimination.”
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi delivered a stark memo on the issue, urging not just boards of directors, but also employees across the corporate landscape, to report — e.g. blow the whistle — on any instance of DEI they encounter, or risk legal peril.
Telling workers to “assess your company’s or educational institution’s DEI policies, programs and initiatives,” Bondi’s memo implies that failure to report DEI practices could be personally ruinous.
Bondi informs workers: “Consult counsel to discuss potential civil or criminal risk. This memo signals increased regulatory scrutiny and white-collar enforcement risk – particularly for entities like educational institutions and government contractors. If you have any questions about potential civil or criminal risk, or understanding the terms of this or any of the recent directives, consult outside counsel to discuss further and take appropriate next steps.”
Politically motivated private firms also plan the same line of attack, including Trump administration staffer Stephen Miller‘s legal arm, America First Legal, which bills itself a right-wing answer to the ACLU.
The threat is prominent enough that some giant American corporations like Costco, which views its DEI commitments as helpful to its bottom line, have asked shareholders to reject changes that activists, concerned about potentially costly legal ramifications, have asked the board to consider.
Among those companies which have altered or eliminated DEI policies in the new normal are Facebook, Disney, Amazon, Google, and many more. By doing so these corporate behemoths hope to eliminate the situation Starbucks is now facing, being sued by Missouri’s attorney general for discrimination related to its DEI policies which the lawsuit says made its workforce “become more female and less white.”
In the wake of the FCC chairman’s probe into DEI practices at Comcast and NBCUniversal, Amazon Studios has walked back its inclusion program that laid out standards for achieving racial diversity. https://t.co/rrvY3p2Rsb pic.twitter.com/ivSyrvPWHA
— Variety (@Variety) February 13, 2025
Another famous company adjusting its DEI guidance is the iconic Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs, among the most highly regarded names in finance.
Goldman’s statement on its DEI changes — which remove the requirement that any company it underwrites must not have an exclusively white male board of directors — demonstrates how companies that might want to continue to use de facto DEI (to enhance their business prospects) can simultaneously adhere to the letter of Trump’s law and, perhaps, the spirit of their own.
Goldman Sachs spokesman Tony Fratto was frank saying, in an email quoted by the Washington Post, that “legal developments” drove the change. Fratto also deftly used the word “formal” to describe the part of the policy Goldman was ending.
“As a result of legal developments related to board diversity requirements, we ended our formal board diversity policy,” Fratto wrote. “We continue to believe that successful boards benefit from diverse backgrounds and perspectives, and we will encourage them to take this approach.”
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