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© Associated Press
Funding for US political campaigns has been shaken: Major companies such as Facebook, BlackRock, Marriott and Dow have announced plans to suspend donations as a sign of growing concern for US companies. Similar messages came from Airbnb, Best Buy and Mastercard.
Big companies, which collectively spend millions of dollars a year campaigning through employee-funded policy committees, have shown concern and anger at the chaos of the past week, vowing to reconsider their role in American politics.
Facebook and Microsoft have said they will suspend all political donations until they review them. BlackRock made a similar announcement to its employees, noting that the company’s decision was prompted by “the horrible events in the nation’s capital.”
Others, like the Marriott, have announced more specific actions: stop money directed at Republicans who voted against certifying the victory of President-elect Joe Biden. The Marriott, the world’s largest hotel chain, said its decision to suspend donations to 147 US officials and senators was motivated by “destructive events on Capitol Hill intended to undermine legal and fair elections.”
Blue Cross, Blue Shield Health Association said it would do the same. The provider of health insurance for more than 100 million people has pledged to cut contributions “for those legislators who voted to undermine our democracy.”
American Express said something similar in a note sent to all employees Monday: The credit company stopped donations to members of Congress who voted “to undermine the results of the presidential election and disrupt the peaceful transition of power.”
Dow said its decision to suspend political donations from 147 representatives and senators of the United States Republic will continue throughout the election cycle: two years for members of parliament and six years for senators.
Commerce Bank, a holding company with branches in five mostly Midwestern states, said in a statement that its political action committee “has stopped all support for officials who have obstructed the peaceful transfer of power.”
147 Republicans in the House and Senate voted to challenge Biden’s victory in Pennsylvania or Arizona, although both states have already officially certified the results, and election officials say there are no significant problems with the vote. Among them are the first two Republicans in the House, Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalis, and Senator Rick Scott, who will lead efforts to win the Senate in the 2022 election.
