It is the latest confrontation in a long separation between the Republican Party and the business community, which historically has been closely aligned with the party, but has opposed the Trump administration’s policies on immigration and trade. The most dramatic recent break came in the summer, when the traditionally conservative United States Chamber of Commerce endorsed more than two dozen Democrats in the House.
The loss of PAC’s corporate support – if the bans last – will affect Republicans who have come to rely on these contributions, especially as the Democratic Party builds a huge online advantage to raise funds. But the consequences can go even further than that, with the Republican Party also facing the prospect of losing support from white-collar workers and executives who are enraged by the insurgency.
“Each executive committee in each PAC is studying this this week. PACs generate their resources from their employees, who are standing up for what happened last week, ”said Scott Reed, a former senior adviser to the Chamber of Commerce.
It is an important decision for companies to turn off the tap for Republican politicians, who have historically been more receptive to their interests than Democrats. While Republican lobbyists are furious about the Capitol uprising, they are also concerned that Democrats are promoting an agenda that cuts them against them.
As a result, business leaders have spent the last few days involved in deliberations about how far to go. Some have been measured. Marriott said it plans to stop donating to Republican Party opponents. Other companies, from investing giants like BlackRock and Goldman Sachs to tech giants Facebook and Google, have announced that they would suspend all political contributions – infuriating Democrats who say there is no reason to be cut.
“The question is, why would they not identify individuals? Why did they say everyone? It is a kind of free pass for those who committed these blatant actions. It makes no sense, ”said Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin, a Democrat and new chairman of the Small Business Committee. “I don’t know what you get for cutting everybody. You must penalize those who are responsible. “
Higher-ranking Republicans are trying to gauge the scope of the boycott – and whether it’s a short-term reaction to last week’s events or something more permanent.
“The leadership and campaign committees rely heavily on corporate money to supply their electoral war chests. The question is whether this is a permanent change or whether it will return to business normally in six months, ”said Ken Spain, a former senior official on the Congressional Republican National Committee.
Doug Pinkham, the chairman of the Public Affairs Council, an association of policy professionals, said he and his team had spoken to more than 30 companies and commercial groups trying to figure out what to do in the past few days.
“My impression is that public outrage over what happened last week is increasing by the day,” said Pinkham, adding, “It won’t go away.”
In an illustration of the alarm, minority leader in the House, Kevin McCarthy, and his team have contacted a large number of companies in the past 24 hours to measure the temperature, according to a person with direct knowledge of the discussions. Most companies said they had no plans to leave the party.
But companies are under increasing pressure. Liberal group End Citizens United launched a pressure campaign urging companies to ask opponents of the Republican Electoral College to return their donations. The Lincoln Project, an organization made up of current and former Republican Party members who oppose Trump, is preparing a media campaign against companies that fund lawmakers.
AT&T and Comcast, which were called by End Citizens United, announced on Monday that they would suspend donations to electoral college candidates. Both companies gave more than 50 percent of their contributions to Republicans during the 2020 elections, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
“We believe that those who finance and financially support these elected Republicans should be known to the American public,” said Rick Wilson, co-founder of the Lincoln Project.
Republican National Senatorial Committee chairman Rick Scott (Florida) is drawing special attention in Capitol and K Street circles after Scott broke with the Republican Party leadership by opposing the certification of Pennsylvania Electoral College votes. His decision raised concerns among some in the party that this would hamper NRSC fundraising at the time the 2022 election cycle is beginning. Senate Republicans are facing a challenging electoral map, needing substantial funding.
Corporate donations still represent a significant portion of political money for politicians. During the 2018 mid-term elections, corporate PACs gave Congress candidates $ 185 million, accounting for 40% of all PAC donations to candidates, according to an analysis by End Citizens United. PAC’s corporate donations totaled $ 8.6 million in career donations for the eight senators who voted against the Electoral College’s certification, according to the group.
Two Republican House leaders who opposed it, McCarthy and Minority Whip Steve Scalise (La.) Raised more than $ 23.4 million in corporate donations throughout their careers. Data shared by the Center for Responsive Politics show that other House Republicans who opposed the Electoral College certification brought $ 12.2 million combined to their campaign and leadership committees in the 2020 campaign cycle, thanks to checks for $ 10,000 of corporate PACs.
“One of Kevin McCarthy’s calling cards has been his ability to raise a lot of money and now he places himself outside the confines of many groups he had access to,” said a former Republican member of Congress.
Some of the corporate changes shocked the party. Republican Party officials were taken by surprise when Jay Timmons, the president and executive director of the National Association of Manufacturers, issued a statement two days before the Electoral College vote criticizing those who planned to oppose it.
The National Association of Manufacturers’ PAC gave more than 70 percent of its donations to Republicans during the 2020 election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics; Timmons is a former executive director of NRSC.
Republican lobbyists say they expect companies to make their plans public over the week. Some party strategists say they are waiting to see if chief executives, many of whom hand out six-digit contributions at once, join their company’s PACs to turn off the tap. Others are eager to know whether the business community supports the main challengers of pro-Trump objectors, something it has done to block more radical candidates in the past.
End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller has warned that if temporary suspensions are lifted in a few months, they will serve only as “public relations stunts” because “about 65 percent of corporations give up after the first six months of election, just taking a break ‘is not going to be enough. There has to be real responsibility for that. ”
Above all, Republicans are just trying to determine whether this is a cataclysmic event that alters political giving in the foreseeable future – or if corporations return when attention on the Capitol riot subsides.
“I think we can really be at an assessment point where people see this vote as a line in the sand, so it looks like a breaking point for many companies and individual donors,” said Mike DuHaime, former Republican National Committee executive director . “But it only matters if it is valid for the entire cycle. If it’s just a break, it doesn’t matter. “