Washington state’s attorney general is standing by Costco as the retail giant resists conservative pressure to ditch its diversity, equity and inclusion practices.
This week, 19 Republican attorneys general sent a letter to Costco, urging the retail giant to end “all unlawful discrimination imposed by the company” through its “divisive” DEI policies.
The attorney general for Washington state, where Costco’s headquarters are located, defended the company and fired back at the Republican effort.
“I’m surprised by my Republican colleagues’ eagerness to weaponize the government against business,” Washington Attorney General Nick Brown, a Democrat, told Fox News Digital. “We don’t believe in punishing private companies for making decisions that protect and enhance their workforce.”
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Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, who led the 19-state effort against Costco alongside Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, vowed to “look at all available options” to ensure the business is following federal and state laws regarding race-based or gender identity-based hiring practices.
“Costco needs to show us the proof that they are following the law because they have public statements that cause us great concern,” Bird said Wednesday to Fox News. “Many other big retailers have changed their policies and are now following federal law, just like President Trump is doing with his executive orders rooting out DEI, so they need to show us they’re following the law.”
Attorneys general from Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska and North Dakota also signed the letter, which gives Costco 30 days to respond.
The letter comes on the heels of Trump signing an executive order targeting DEI in the federal government and encouraging the private sector to end these “illegal” practices.
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The order tasks the attorneys general with rooting out sectors and organizations that allegedly engage in discriminatory DEI practices. Recommendations will be made for potential lawsuits against violators.
Major companies like Target, McDonald’s and Walmart have backed off from their DEI policies in recent months amid growing scrutiny over these policies.
Costco has thus far resisted these challenges and defended DEI values as critical to the success of its business.
“We owe our success to the more than 300,000 employees who serve our members every day. It is important that they all feel included and appreciated and that they transmit these values to our customers,” Costco board chair Hamilton “Tony” E. James said at the shareholder meeting Thursday.
At that meeting, Costco shareholders overwhelmingly rejected an anti-DEI proposal brought by a conservative shareholder group to evaluate the risks posed by its DEI practices to the company’s bottom line.
James said that the company’s “commitment to inclusion” neither compromises merit nor includes quotas or systematic preferences.
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Constitutional law attorney and Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that, “absent an unlawful policy, businesses have the right to make their own employment decisions within the parameters of the law.”
“That includes mandatory training on DEI. Customers obviously have the right to make their own judgment in purchases, as shown by the response to Bud Light and Disney. However, state AGs need to be mindful of the countervailing speech and other rights afforded to corporations and organizations,” he added in an emailed statement.
Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of the remaining 30 state attorneys general that did not sign off on the letter to Costco to ask if they would be taking any action, for or against the business, after Trump’s executive order.
A spokesperson for Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita told Fox News Digital, “Attorney General Rokita stands firmly against unlawful DEI practices and supports President Trump’s actions to end them in corporate America.”
Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown’s office referred Fox News Digital to his letter, co-signed by 13 Democratic attorneys general earlier this month, urging Walmart to keep its commitment to DEI. The letter was also signed by the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont.
Iowa AG Bird did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment by publication time.
Fox News’ Jamie Joseph and Taylor Penley contributed to this article.
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