98% of Costco shareholders reject push to evaluate and roll back DEI

LAUREN TAYLOR: More than 98% of Costco shareholders rejected a proposal from a conservative group to evaluate and consider pulling back its efforts toward diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI.

It follows Costco’s board of directors unanimously voting to urge shareholders to reject the motion. 

As large companies like Walmart, McDonald’s and Meta have pulled back or eliminated their diversity programs, Costco has pushed forward on DEI.

While the motion suggested DEI initiatives posed business risks, the Costco board disagreed.

“We believe that these efforts enhance our capacity to attract and retain employees who will help our business succeed,” the board said in its advisory to vote against the proposal.

The motion came from the National Center for Public Policy Research, a group that served on the advisory board of Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s blueprint for a conservative presidential administration.

President Trump distanced himself from Project 2025 but has appointed many of its authors to positions in his administration. And in recent days, he has followed its proposals to eliminate DEI programs in federal government departments and encourage the same at publicly traded companies.

The president signed an executive order authorizing investigations into DEI initiatives at large public corporations. In his order, Trump says the policies violate the text and spirit of longstanding federal civil-rights laws.

And this week, the government’s Office of Personnel Management told government agencies to send notice to their employees to report evidence of any efforts to maintain diversity, equity, inclusion or accessibility programs.

Costco’s rejection of the DEI limitations the government is implementing hasn’t brought them out of the woods entirely.

Conservative anti-DEI influencer Robby Starbuck posted to X late last month, before this week’s vote that, “We’ll eventually get to Costco but we will get to them on our timetable. They were not a company we had down to work on early in 2025.”

For Straight Arrow News, I’m Lauren Taylor.

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