Silicon Valley Exec Mocks Vance's Hire-American Push as 'DEI' -- Trump Officials Fire Back

A Silicon Valley investor's attempt to mock Vice President JD Vance's push to put American workers first has backfired in spectacular fashion, drawing sharp rebukes from the highest levels of the Trump administration. Ankit Gupta, a general partner at famed startup accelerator Y Combinator, declared on X that Vance's call for American companies to "hire and train Americans" was proof that "DEI is back." The post has ignited a firestorm that now pits the administration's top labor and economic enforcers squarely against the tech elite.

Gupta's post came in response to Vance's push for American corporations to hire and train American workers when they need employees. His framing of that straightforward proposition as a return of diversity, equity and inclusion ideology drew immediate and forceful pushback from officials who view it as an attack on American workers.

Silicon Valley's Sneer Meets Its Match

"In a win for the woke left DEI is back," Gupta wrote on X. The reaction was swift and unsparing.

Labor Department Inspector General Anthony D'Esposito answered directly: "No, Ankit. It's called putting your own citizens first." Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson went further, accusing Y Combinator of being "a front for the far left" and questioning whether wealthy investors attacking American workers have the country's best interests at heart.

"I'm deeply uncomfortable with wealthy investors attacking American workers like this," Ferguson wrote. "I'm afraid it's increasingly obvious to many people that individuals such as this guy do not have the best interests of America and her citizens in mind. The purpose of the American economy is to promote the general welfare of American workers, not provide jobs for the rest of the world."

Gupta, apparently rattled by the response, later made his X account private and blocked Ferguson outright.

Administration Officials Close Ranks Behind American Workers

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, accused some technology companies and employers of exploiting visa programs to obtain cheaper foreign labor for jobs Americans could perform, including by skipping normal job advertising and relying on staffing pipelines.

"These are not good business practices; they are not patriotic economic practices; and they are illegal labor practices," Dhillon wrote, adding that the administration "will not allow American employers to discriminate against American workers."

Nalin Haley, son of former South Carolina Gov. and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, also piled on. "It's now DEI to train and hire Americans?" he wrote. "Plenty of data to show that Americans are more than qualified, but corporate greed refuses to pay them respectable wages." He closed with a blunt demand: "Ban the H-1B Visa now!"

The Bigger Fight Over H-1B and American Jobs

The clash is the latest eruption in a long-simmering war between the administration and Silicon Valley over the H-1B visa program, which lets employers bring in temporary foreign workers for specialty occupations. Vance's push to prioritize American hiring cuts directly against the tech industry's reliance on imported labor pipelines.

The administration has made overhauling the program a priority. An earlier attempt to impose a $100,000 payment on new H-1B petitions through a presidential proclamation was blocked in litigation, and the administration is now pursuing a different route. At the same time, the White House has pushed to scrap DEI practices across the federal government, arguing that hiring and promotion should be based on merit and citizenship, not ideology.

Dhillon said the Justice Department, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Labor Department are working together to "level the playing field for U.S. workers."

What to Watch Next

Y Combinator and Gupta have not responded to requests for comment, and the investor's retreat from public view suggests the backlash stung. But the episode has laid bare the divide between the tech industry's globalist hiring instincts and the administration's America-first labor agenda.

With the administration signaling more action on visa abuse and American hiring, and with the midterm elections looming, the fight over who gets American jobs is only going to get louder. Silicon Valley's attempt to brand basic patriotism as DEI just made the administration's case for them.