Some American Companies May Be Trying To Sidestep Trump’s DEI Crackdown, Scholars Warn

Some experts are sounding the alarm about some companies in the U.S. reportedly clinging to their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts instead of eliminating them in accordance with the Trump administration’s DEI crackdown.

While many U.S. companies have been walking back DEI policies in recent months, largely following political and legal pressure, there are a growing number of reports that some businesses have been quietly rebranding their diversity programs instead of fully abandoning them. The reports come after President Donald Trump has taken significant action to crack down on DEI policies in education, the federal workforce and the private sector during his second term.

“Corporations and businesses that simply rebrand their DEI programs are not only continuing to violate federal law, but they are doing a disservice to their employees,” Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “DEI corporate programs are specifically designed to not only perpetuate woke stereotypes, but to sanction discrimination against some individuals, and in favor of others, on the basis of race, gender, and other classifications.”

“That is a blatant violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin,” von Spakovsky added. “The biased and discriminatory language, images, and stereotypes of DEI programs implement a hostile work environment as well. As both a former corporate in-house counsel and a senior lawyer in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Justice Department, I can say that any corporate officer who sanctions this type of behavior is not only risking major lawsuits against his company, but he is acting in a morally bankrupt manner that hurts his employees.”

Trump has already introduced several executive orders to toss out DEI programs across the country since taking office for a second time. The president signed an order in January that directed all federal agencies to “enforce our longstanding civil-rights laws and to combat illegal private-sector DEI preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities.” He also issued a separate executive order the same month to end “radical indoctrination” in K-12 schools.

“It almost seems as if they [companies] just don’t get it,” Stefan Padfield, the executive director of the National Center’s Free Enterprise Project, told the DCNF. “They appear to think the problem is the word ‘equity,’ and if they get rid of that word [in the workplace] then everything will be fine.”

“The [DEI] programs are so overtly discriminatory,” Padfield added. “I believe it is more likely that they [these companies] know exactly what they are doing. You know, I have seen a number of quotes, particularly from people in the DEI side of things, where they very proudly proclaim that they’re not going to stop doing what they are doing.”

While some Democrats and blue states have pushed back against the Trump administration’s massive push to eliminate diversity programs across the U.S., many Americans favor getting rid of DEI policies in schools and the government. A January survey from The Economist/YouGov found that 45% of voters approved of ending DEI programs in schools and the government, while just 40% disapproved.

Some business experts have claimed that some DEI policies in the workplace can exclude certain employees.

“I do think Americans care about inequality, and they do see problems around inequality and they want to address those problems,” Padfield told the DCNF. “There are ways that we can do that much more effectively than dividing ourselves on the basis of race and sex the way that DEI does.”