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A critical deadline is looming over corporate America that could escalate the war over DEI.
Back in January, President Donald Trump ordered federal agencies to send a report to the Attorney General identifying up to nine organizations with “the most egregious and discriminatory DEI practitioners.” These companies would be potential targets of a “civil compliance investigation.” Agencies had 120 days to come up with their lists—a time limit that is set to expire next week.
“Companies have been trying to prepare for this deadline in particular,” Joe Schmitt, a labor and employment attorney at Nilan Johnson Lewis, tells Fortune. He notes many companies have been preparing for months by analyzing the legality or potential risks around the DEI programs.
It’s unknown which organizations will be named, or even if the information will be shared publicly. But legal experts say that large public companies that have been more outspoken on DEI, as well as those that have come into Trump’s crosshairs for personal reasons, are more likely targets. If a company is singled out, however, it will have to make a crucial decision: submit to the administration’s demands, or stand up for its policies.
Given the Trump’s administration’s recent executive orders targeting law firms, as well as his investigation into organizations like Harvard University, experts say he’ll likely want to take this opportunity to make a public reckoning.
“Whether or not this will be a huge list or a small list, or any list, is still unclear. But my guess is that they’ll want to make a big splash,” Andrew Turnbull, employment lawyer and co-chair of Morrison Foerster’s DEI strategy and defense task force, tells Fortune.
Read more about the DEI deadline and what it means for companies here.
Brit Morse
brit.morse@fortune.com
Around the Table
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The Federal Reserve plans to reduce staff by 10% over the course of the next several years. New York Times
Watercooler
Everything you need to know from Fortune.
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