On July 8, 2025, T-Mobile notified Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Brendan Carr that it would be rolling back its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) program so the FCC would approve the company’s proposed merger with US Cellular Corp.’s wireless operations and its purchase of the fiberoptic internet service provider Metronet. On July 10, the FCC and the Department of Justice (DOJ) cleared the merger.
Carr Eliminated DEI at FCC
On January 21—the day after President Trump issued his Executive Order 14151, “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing”—Carr announced that he was ending the FCC’s promotion of DEI, and he quickly began announcing investigations into corporations over which the FCC has authority.
In addition, Carr began pressuring corporations that had mergers or other acquisitions over which the FCC had jurisdiction to eliminate their DEI programs if they wanted them to be approved.
Carr Challenges Corporate DEI Programs
On February 11, Carr sent a letter to Comcast announcing that the FCC was opening a probe into the company’s promotion of DEI programs. He said the FCC was investigating Comcast because there was substantial evidence the company was still engaging in the promotion of DEI and because it covered a range of sectors regulated by the FCC—including cable, high-speed Internet, broadcast TV stations, and MVNO wireless offerings. As a result, Carr believed an investigation into Comcast and its NBCUniversal operations would aid the commission’s broader efforts to root out what he called “invidious” forms of DEI discrimination across all of the sectors the FCC regulates.
On February 28, Carr sent a similar letter warning Verizon Communications that its DEI programs violated Trump administration policies. Verizon was in the process of seeking to buy Frontier Communications, which required gaining FCC approval.
On May 15, Verizon responded, notifying the FCC that it would substantially cut its DEI program, including eliminating DEI references from training and changing practices around hiring, supplier diversity, and corporate sponsorships. The day after Verizon announced the DEI changes, FCC approved its merger.
On March 27, Carr sent a letter to Disney/ABC informing them that the FCC Enforcement Bureau had opened an investigation into allegations that they had been violating FCC EEO regulations by promoting “invidious forms of DEI discrimination.” Carr said that ABC’s broadcast license could be at risk if they engaged in race or sex discrimination. Before receiving this letter, Disney (along with other corporations) had been revising its DEI programs to comply with the new approach by the Trump administration.
Companies Retreat from DEI
It’s instructive to review what T-Mobile and Verizon promised so they would receive approval for their mergers with US Cellular and Frontier Communications respectively.
T-Mobile agreed to:
- Eliminate DEI teams, remove any reference to DEI on its websites, and redirect employees to focus on employee culture and engagement;
- Ensure its recruitment practices and hiring decisions are consistent with guidance issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC); not include hiring quotas, goals, or percentages based on race, sex, sexual orientation, or other protected characteristics; not reward managers for hiring individuals from any particular group; and not track candidate pools by protected characteristics;
- Provide leadership, growth, mentorship, and development opportunities to all employees regardless of race or sex and focus workforce training on keeping the workplace free of discrimination;
- Expand supplier diversity to focus on small business and identify the best choice for the company, regardless of race, sex, or other protected characteristic; and
- Continue its employee resource groups (ERGs) but ensure their membership is open to all and is not a factor in employment or advancement decisions.
Verizon agreed to:
- Eliminate any team or individual role focused on DEI and erase DEI references from all company websites;
- Remove all references to DEI from employee training materials and ensure training is consistent with EEOC guidance on discrimination in the workplace;
- Ensure corporate sponsorships focus on advancing core business objectives and cease participation in recognition surveys on protected characteristics;
- Focus on increased opportunities for small business and remove quantitative goals for diverse spending;
- Ensure ERGs remain open to all and that ERG membership is not a factor in employment or advancement decisions;
- Eliminate workforce diversity goals and any portion of bonuses intended to increase representation of women or minorities; and
- Ban hiring, training, leadership, or development programs limited by race, sex, or other demographic characteristics.
Conclusion
While the FCC is expected to continue to push companies to eliminate DEI, House Democrats are raising concerns that Carr’s actions are “arbitrary and capricious” unless the FCC is aware of discrimination that occurred before pushing the companies to drop their DEI.