FIRST ON FOX - With the Supreme Court rejecting affirmative action in June, lawmakers wondered whether it will extend to corporate diversity efforts.
In a 6-3 opinion last month, the Supreme Court decided that using race as a factor in college admissions violated the Constitution's 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause. In some circles the decision has raised questions over whether it will affect other sectors of public life, with a particular spotlight on corporations that have adopted diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in attempts to diversity the workplace.
"I don't think that ever should have been a part of policy," Rep. Gary Moore, R-Ala., told Fox News Digital of DEI-like programs. "I think when you're hiring, you don't need race on an application. I don't think that ought to play into an application. I think the process ought to be, let's hire the best people. Let's not focus on race or sex or gender or any of the above. Let's hire the best people for the jobs. Let them go to work. Quit discriminating based on whatever the case may be."
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"I certainly hope not," Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., said when asked if the Supreme Court ruling ramifications will bleed into the workplace. "I spent too many years in corporate life before coming here to Congress, and they're actually ahead of government in many ways in making sure that they have diverse workforces. They respect that, unlike the Supreme Court of the United States."
Asked to weigh in, Rep. Gary Palmer, R-Ala., presented a contrast, as well as a directive to watch Thursday's Committee on Education & the Workforce hearing entitled, "Exposing the Dangers of the Influence of Foreign Adversaries on College Campuses." The hearing "exposed the growing threat of malign foreign influence within our nation’s colleges and universities," according to the committee.
"Listen to the Democrats talk about how prohibiting China from putting hundreds of millions of dollars into U.S. education, from secondary all the way to postsecondary, is xenophobic, is somehow an attack on the rights of Asians, contrast that to their response to the Supreme Court's ruling," Palmer challenged.
Critics have also hit out at the environmental, social and governance (ESG) movement, arguing it is an allocation of money based on political agendas rather than on focusing on the best returns for savers.
The environmental factors considered under the practice can include how a corporation contributes to pollution or climate change, while the social criteria partly examines a company's relationship with employees.
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Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn., said he too wasn't sure about the Supreme Court's impact on the workforce, but was adamant that America has already come a long way.
"I don't know," Fleischmann said of the Supreme Court's potential reach. "Obviously there are differences between the public and private sectors. I think as Americans, we want to make sure that we have diversity everywhere, opportunity everywhere. And I think we're there in America right now. I've spoken with many folks who've been traditionally classified as minorities, and they feel America's a great land of opportunity, and it's gotten so, so much better."
Fox News' Agustin Hays and Nikolas Lanum contributed to this report.
