Costco (COS) did something this past week that is unusual for a company operating in the new Trump era — successfully push back against a challenge to its diversity efforts.

The giant retailer urged its stockholders to defeat a shareholder resolution from the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR), a conservative think tank, that would have forced the company to evaluate risks from its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices.

The measure was roundly defeated, with 98% of investors siding with the company.

"Our position on these issues is not new," Costco’s board chairman Tony James said about the company’s DEI stance during an annual shareholders meeting last Thursday.

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"We have always been purposefully nonpolitical, and a welcoming workforce has been integral to the company's culture and values since its founding,” James added.

An NCPPR official said Costco won the vote by aligning with conflicted asset managers and proxy advisers that profit from DEI and ESG (environmental, social, and governance) policies.

"While we are disappointed by the result, we are also not surprised, given the forces aligned against us," said Stefan Padfield, NCPPR’s Free Enterprise Project executive director.

Many prominent companies are backing away from DEI policies as corporate diversity goals come under intensifying scrutiny in Washington, D.C. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office that ends federal DEI programs and orders US agencies to "combat illegal private sector DEI actions."

“My administration has taken action to abolish all discriminatory diversity, equity, and inclusion nonsense,” Trump told business leaders and politicians last Thursday during a virtual address to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

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Over the past year, a number of high-profile companies have done about-faces on diversity, including Meta (META), Walmart (WMT), McDonald's (MCD), Lowe’s (LOW), Ford (F), Tractor Supply (TSCO), and John Deere (DE). The latest reversal came Friday when retailer Target (TGT) said it would end its three-year diversity, equity, and inclusion goals.

Many of these retreats were also influenced by a recent US Supreme Court decision on affirmative action at colleges and universities, a ruling that prompted some conservative groups to ramp up their efforts to eliminate diverse hiring practices.

But Costco is not the only company defending its diversity stance. Another is Apple (AAPL), which has also asked investors to vote down a shareholder proposal from the NCPPR encouraging the iPhone maker to assess risks of its DEI programs. That vote will take place next month.

"Apple is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in recruiting, hiring, training, or promoting on any basis protected by law," the company said in its proxy statement.

Some big banks are also holding firm, for now. The CEOs of JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Goldman Sachs (GS) this past week also said they will focus on efforts to promote DEI even as those banks are emerging as targets of activist groups pushing them to trim their DEI efforts, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and nine other Republican-controlled states sent a letter to JPMorgan, Goldman, and other big Wall Street firms asking them to respond to questions about their DEI programs, hinting at a possible legal clash to come.

"Bring them on," Dimon said about activist efforts targeting DEI during an interview with CNBC last week in Davos.

"We are going to continue to reach out to the Black community, the Hispanic community, the LGBT community, the veterans community."

Alexis Keenan is a legal reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow Alexis on X @alexiskweed.

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