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While some businesses have opted to effectively rebrand DEI programs amid federal pressure rather than axing them outright, it’s fair to say that T-Mobile has left no room for doubt.
In a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) sent earlier this week, the wireless network pledged to halt all DEI policies “not just in name, but in substance.”
Seeking the go-ahead on two significant acquisitions, T-Mobile said it recognized the “legal and policy landscape surrounding DEI under federal laws has changed.”
T-Mobile axes DEI teams in bid for regulatory clearance
T-Mobile informed the FCC that it will disband teams formerly focused on diversity and inclusion and will no longer have DEI roles in the business.
Earlier in 2025, President Trump ordered the dismantling of federal DEI programs and advised US businesses to follow suit, calling corporate diversity programs “illegal.’
Trump’s hard-line stance has prompted a swathe of companies to dial back DEI measures and programs. Some, like Warner Bros and Disney, appear to have taken softer approaches, simply rebranding DEI efforts under new terminology.
Others, such as Google, PepsiCo, and now T-Mobile, have gone further by eliminating DEI teams, scrapping formal policies, and ending training programs.
According to T-Mobile’s notice to the FCC, it will remove all DEI references from its website and training materials, and open up training or career development opportunities previously available only to specific groups to all employees.
T-Mobile’s letter came after Brendan Carr, the FCC Chair and a Republican, pushed businesses seeking regulatory approval to scrap DEI programs.
“Any businesses that are looking for FCC approval, I would encourage them to get busy ending any sort of their invidious forms of DEI discrimination,” Carr told Bloomberg News earlier in 2025.
Carr described T-Mobile's notice as “another good step forward for equal opportunity, nondiscrimination, and the public interest.”
‘Cynical’ – Reaction as T-Mobile acquisitions cleared after DEI nixed
T-Mobile’s $4.4billion acquisition of UScellular has since been approved by the US Department of Justice’s antitrust division and the Trump administration.
A $4.9billion joint venture to acquire fibre company Metrone has also been given the go-ahead by the FCC.
The prospect of losing out on multi-billion-dollar deals cements the commercial risks involved for employers who do not bend to the Trump administration’s position on DEI.
In May, Verizon’s $20billion acquisition of Frontier Communications was only sanctioned once the telecoms firm agreed to end DEI programs.
Not all at the FCC agree with the move, however. Anna Gomez, FCC Commissioner and a Democrat criticized T-Mobile on X for abandoning its DEI programs.
“In yet another cynical bid to win FCC regulatory approval, T-Mobile is making a mockery of its professed commitment to eliminating discrimination, promoting fairness and amplifying underrepresented voices,” she wrote. “History will not be kind to this cowardly corporate capitulation.”
