What the midterms could mean for workplace DEI programs

“DEI is back!”

That’s what California Democrat Ro Khanna proclaimed after the Nov. 3 midterm election, in which Democrats picked up votes in at least 40 seats in the House of Representatives and seven Senate seats. Arizona voters also rejected a law that would have limited DEI programs in the state, according to Baton Rouge news outlet, The Advocate.

While the next Congress stands to be among the most diverse in US history, experts caution that DEI will not magically reappear in the workplace. Employers might want to proceed with caution and focus more on policies over language.

Catch up on the last two years. The anti-DEI campaign was in full swing by the time the 2024 presidential election was underway, but it escalated through executive orders and guidelines once President Trump stepped back into office in 2025, HR Brew reported previously.

The White House recently posted a list of its anti-DEI accomplishments, accompanied by a corresponding “Lo-fi Beats to Dismantle DEI To” YouTube playlist video. The administration previously issued executive orders targeting disparate impact, long-standing equality-based hiring programs, EEO-1 reporting, LGBTQ+-related guidance, and AI bias detection, among myriad other moves.

In response, much of corporate America seemingly retreated from DEI. IBM, Target, Meta, and Johnson & Johnson all sunset decades-old workplace equality initiatives.

Between the (red and blue) lines. While some companies went quiet, most (72%) Americans still want businesses to promote inclusion initiatives, according to a recent Gallup poll. And positive sentiment toward DEI has grown, with 59% of US adults believing that DEI in business is a good thing, a 10-point increase from 2025, according to recent research from NxtLevel.

“DEI is not a pendulum. It was never political, it was politicized,” Jackeline Stewart-Hawkins, a partner at public relations firm LSG, told HR Brew via email. “Americans agree with hiring from the widest talent pool, paying people fairly, and building workplaces where people can do their best work.”

Still, experts caution that the election was not necessarily about DEI.

“These aren’t single-issue voters, and nobody should mistake this election for a referendum on a corporate DEI program,” Bradley Akubuiro, a partner at business and policy communications agency Bully Pulpit International, told HR Brew via email. “But I expect policymakers to feel a stronger mandate to address racial inequity because of the voters who put them in office. Employers should pay attention.”

He added that the anti-DEI movement won’t necessarily disappear, in part because the administration still runs much of the government, though it won’t have as much power moving forward.

“Democrat control of Congress will likely result in increased oversight and conflict with Trump-aligned federal agencies, as well as increased direct scrutiny on corporate behavior in the form of subpoenas, hearings, and investigations,” Lily Zheng, a fairness and inclusion strategist, told HR Brew via email. They added that the new Congress might try to reign in the EEOC, so workplaces could have an opportunity to proactively strengthen their nondiscrimination measures.

What employers may do next. Employers will have to navigate opposing political realities between the executive and legislative branches of government, according to experts.

“The bigger question is whether corporate America will recognize that diversity, equity and inclusion aren’t simply political priorities—they’re business imperatives,” Shawn Smith, a communications executive, told HR Brew on Linkedin. “The companies that walked away from their commitments risk losing credibility with employees, consumers and communities. Rebuilding that trust will require more than reinstating programs or changing language.”

Employers could use this time of renewed change to shift into a new era of DEI, inclusion executive Yulonda Burris, told HR Brew on LinkedIn

“It can’t look the same as before,” she said. “We must be strategic, not emotional. We can do so much if we’re strategically aligned with the bottom line.”

“If in 2024 the prevailing sentiment in companies was fear, and that fear led to unnecessary retreats around legally defensible DEI-related activities, the sentiment now may be guilt,” Zheng said, adding that executives could be tempted to restart DEI programs for political reasons. “This puts the overall field of DEI in a precarious position: practitioners may experience a flood of shallow commitment from executives that remain resistant to genuinely improving their organizations’ practices.”

Zheng recommended HR leaders prioritize programs that build fair and equitable workplaces over a basic belief system. “It would be missing the mark for an executive to decide to bring back a shuttered DEI program without reexamining pay, hiring, promotions, benefits, nondiscrimination, manager training, flexible work policies, and the like.”