Republican AGs Challenge Costco’s DEI Policies Over Growing Corporate Scrutiny

Reuters reported that 19 Republican state attorneys general are now demanding Costco Wholesale cease its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies. Costco’s current DEI programs check off all the right boxes, which is why shareholders were so strongly in favor of them, 98 percent voting in favor of continuing them at last month’s meeting.

The group led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird issued a formal letter to Costco CEO Ron Vachris accusing the company of violating its own principled merit policies and federal law with its DEI policies. Costco has been given a 30-day ultimatum to either repeal these policies or defend them: that’s what the attorneys general have announced.

Pressure builds as big names like Meta Platforms, Amazon, JPMorgan Chase and Boeing already modified or abandoned their DEI initiatives. A pension was triggered by former President Donald Trump’s executive order ordering government agencies, contractors and the private sector to destroy DEI policies. The trouble here is Costco has not responded to this demand, though it’s being grilled over workplace diversity programs, which it’s committed to.

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