US federal judiciary undertakes review of its own DEI programs

By Nate Raymond

March 12 (Reuters) - The federal judiciary is undertaking a review of its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, a process it kicked off quietly in the months before Republican President Donald Trump returned to the White House with a vow to eliminate DEI in the federal government and the private sector.

U.S. Circuit Judge Jeffrey Sutton, the chair of the U.S. Judicial Conference's executive committee, told reporters following a meeting of the judiciary's top policymaking body on Tuesday that a working group was in the midst of undertaking a review of the court system's own DEI initiatives.

"Obviously, the judiciary wants to make sure we're following the law," said Sutton, an appointee of Republican President George W. Bush who sits on the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The existence of the working group was disclosed in a single line of a report released in December describing what was discussed during the Judicial Conference's prior meeting that September, before the presidential election.

At that meeting, the Judicial Conference's executive committee agreed to appoint a working group to review the results of a survey the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts conducted in July of DEI programs, the report said.

Exactly what the survey found, or who is on the working group, has never been disclosed, and a spokesperson for the Administrative Office, the judiciary's administrative arm, declined on Wednesday to provide further information.

The working group's efforts are separate from Trump's own push through executive orders and other administration actions to ban what he calls "egregious and discriminatory" DEI programs at federal agencies and businesses.

Supporters of such programs say they are generally designed to promote the fair treatment and full participation of groups that historically have been underrepresented or faced discrimination because of their race, gender or gender identity.

The judiciary is an independent branch of government, and Trump has no authority over its DEI policies. But judicial policymakers are nonetheless reviewing their own programs to see if they are lawful, according to Sutton.

He said the judiciary's DEI working group grew out of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 decision striking down race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina.

Chief Justice John Roberts, who presides over the Judicial Conference, in that decision wrote that "eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it."

While the ruling only concerned colleges, conservative activists have cited it when challenging other government and private sector programs designed to bolster diversity.

Sutton said that given the Supreme Court's holding, the judiciary wanted "to take an inventory to make sure that our programs are complying with the ruling."

The Judicial Conference took no action on Tuesday concerning the working group's efforts, which are ongoing, he said. He provided no further details.

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