Costco's board of directors is throwing its support behind its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) program, ahead of a shareholder vote on a proposal that calls for a full review of the policy, and asserts that it poses a financial risk to the company. 

The proposal — which was originally submitted by a conservative think tank — cites a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision that banned affirmative action for college admissions, as well as a slew of recent court victories by conservative groups that had targeted federal DEI programs giving priority to minority or women-owned businesses for contracts and grants. According to The New York Times, Costco's board unanimously called on its shareholders to reject the think tank's proposal ahead of a January 23 vote, stating that "our commitment to an enterprise rooted in respect and inclusion is appropriate and necessary."

Read More: Are Supply Chains Getting Serious About Diversity, Equity and Inclusion?

This comes in the wake of an executive order issued by President Trump at the start of his second term, which directed federal agencies to investigate DEI programs at publicly-traded companies. Several major U.S. corporations also ended or dramatically scaled back their DEI policies before Trump took office, including Amazon, Walmart, Boeing, Meta, McDonald's, Ford and John Deere among others. Despite that, Costco, Apple, Microsoft, Pinterest and JPMorgan Chase have all signaled that they have no plans to move away from their DEI initiatives in the months to come.