Report: Mamdani's scheme to implement DEI measures

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani tried to slip diversity, equity and inclusion measures past the Trump administration by removing direct references to DEI from a racial equity plan, reports say. The avowed democratic socialist announced this week that he was rolling out a Preliminary Citywide Racial Equity Plan (REP) , a scheme to support 'underrepresented' business owners. The plan was previously approved by New York voters in 2022 under a referendum, but former Mayor Eric Adams missed the deadline to release it.

The Commission on Racial Equity sued the Adams administration for failing to release the plan. Mamdani vowed to publish it during his first 100 days in office. But according to sources inside the Mamdani administration, the Democrat understood the move would likely anger the Trump White House , which has targeted DEI efforts across the federal government. Those close to the mayor told the New York Times that Mamdani's team took care to avoid using the exact DEI wording in the REP plan and toned down language to conform to wording that had been upheld in legal challenges to Trump's DEI crackdown.

However, it appeared Mamdani's efforts to skirt the Trump administration failed, as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon quickly said she was investigating. Shortly after the mayor announced the plan on Monday, Dhillon wrote on X: 'Sounds fishy/illegal. Will review!' Mamdani has notably struck up an apparent friendship with President Trump since taking office in January, visiting the White House twice and reportedly dialing in on numerous occasions about the future of the Big Apple. According to sources close to Mamdani, he feared fracturing this dynamic with his DEI plan and worked to avoid crossing the White House's anti-DEI policies by toning down the wording of his scheme.

Adams had previously removed references to 'diversity, equity and inclusion' in an unreleased draft, and Mamdani's team reportedly did not restore them when they inherited the scheme. Mamdani's apparent goal was to still establish DEI policies, but worded in a way that is permissible in ways that had already been upheld in courts so the Trump administration could not challenge them. The mayor told the Times this week that references to DEI had been removed because his administration inherited the planning document, blaming Adams for the plan being 'heavily diluted over many rounds of revisions.' 'We put forward a stronger report that actually reflects the realities New Yorkers are living through,' Mamdani said.

While much of the report was watered down, insiders said Mamdani's team did make changes that they hoped would not infringe on Trump's anti-DEI policies. This included including a definition of racism in the plan, and the addition of language to characterize the death of George Floyd 'as murder.' While Mamdani may have aimed to avoid Trump's wrath, his decision to remove DEI wording from the report angered liberals in his city. Linda Tigani, the chairwoman and executive director of the commission, said she was 'extremely disappointed' to learn that specific language had been removed from the plan.

'The voters wanted explicit language,' Tigani said. 'They wanted clear, actionable goals that named race, that named racial inequities and that named solutions.' 'While I understand that Trump’s orders and his political agenda may be taken as a matter of law, in New York City, what is law is racial equity,' she said. 'And that comes first and foremost.' Joe Calvello, Mamdani’s spokesman, told the Times that New York City officials had not received any notifications from the Department of Justice about the plan. The Daily Mail has contacted Mamdani's office and the White House for comment.