A conservative watchdog group is demanding the Trump administration investigate one of the nation’s biggest satellite television provider over its promotion of DEI and other political activism.

Consumers’ Research sent a letter on Wednesday to the Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission arguing that DISH has “entrenched discriminatory practices” that may violate President Donald Trump’s executive orders on DEI. The letter pointed to various employee trainings and initiatives that focused on race and gender. 

“Rather than focusing on consumers, DISH has instead promoted race- and gender-based ideologies in violation of President Trump’s executive orders aimed at eliminating divisive and discriminatory DEI programs in both the public and private sectors,” Consumers’ Research Executive Director Will Hild wrote in a letter obtained by The Daily Wire. 

Consumers’ Research launched a campaign in July to highlight some of DISH’s woke efforts. 

On a now-deleted webpage, DISH said that it wanted to embed DEI into its recruiting efforts, data and analytics, learning and development, talent identification and development, and organizational processes and systems. 

“DISH is committed to embracing a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace where every team member is empowered to realize their full potential. While there is still work to be done, our five-part strategy aims to improve diversity, equity and inclusion at all levels — especially systematic — in order to be a workplace representative of the communities we live, work and serve in,” an archived page of the webpage reads. 

Hild’s letter also pointed to an unconscious bias training session hosted by DISH’s employee resource groups. This training focused on how companies “need bias interrupters” and taught that “being on a diverse & inclusive team is being on a winning team.”

Employee resource groups hosted by DISH include identity-focused collectives like “Out at DISH,” “African American Network at DISH,” “DISH Women’s Impact Network,” and “Adelante con DISH.” Many of these groups have promoted political agendas. 

For example, Out at DISH promoted the Trevor Project’s “Coming Out Handbook,” which promotes radical gender ideology to kids. That same group also celebrated “Transgender Day of Visibility,” urging employees to “take some time to learn more about the transgender community and how you can be an ally.”

Hild’s letter also referenced previously-scrutinized donations from DISH founder Charlie Ergen, which came before the Biden Justice Department dismissed a $3.3 billion civil fraud lawsuit against the network. As the New York Post reported, the Justice Department moved to dismiss the suit in March 2024, just months after Ergen donated $113,000 to the Biden re-election effort.

A spokesman for Echostar, DISH’s owner, argued at the time that the fraud allegations were without merit and pointed out that Ergen regularly donated to members of both parties. 

“As a company subject to FCC oversight and benefiting from federal spectrum allocations, Consumers’ Research urges the DOJ and FCC to investigate DISH’s DEI initiatives for potential violations of President Trump’s executive orders and to assess whether the political activism of the co-founders has improperly influenced regulatory outcomes,” Hild wrote. 

The FCC has already opened up DEI-related investigations into broadcast companies, including Comcast and NBC Universal. FCC Chair Brendan Carr said that the promotion of DEI may be in violation of federal civil rights laws. 

Hild would like to see similar investigations into DISH. 

“Subjecting their employees to DEI training and especially their promotion of radical gender ideology to children is in violation of President Trump’s policies and DISH should be investigated immediately by the DOJ and FCC,” Hild told The Daily Wire. “DISH Network needs to be held accountable for turning its company into a vehicle for far-left activism. From DEI mandates to gender ideology and climate activism, it is clear the company has embedded woke politics into every part of its business.”