Corporate America halts donations to Republicans who voted to overturn the election

CNN/Stylemagazine.com Newswire | 1/11/2021, 12:06 p.m.
Some of America's biggest companies are suspending donations to Republican Congress members who objected to the Electoral College's votes.
US National Guard soldiers guard the grounds of the US Capitol from behind a security fence in Washington, DC, on January 9, 2021. Credit: Daniel Slim/AFP/Getty Images

By Jazmin Goodwin, CNN Business

(CNN) -- Some of America's biggest companies are suspending donations to Republican Congress members who objected to the Electoral College's votes.

The growing list of those corporations, including American Express, BlueCross BlueShield, Commerce Bank. Dow and Marriott, comes after a pro-Trump mob breached the US Capitol last Wednesday to fight against the ceremonial counting of electoral votes that confirmed President-elect Joe Biden's win.

147 Republicans voted against certification of the electoral votes in a joint session of Congress last Wednesday evening. They included Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville, among hundreds other congress members.

American Express: American Express said its political action committe would no longer make contributions to those 147 Republicans who voted to challenge the election results.

"Last week's attempts by some congressional members to subvert the presidential election results and disrupt the peaceful transition of power do not align with our American Express Blue Box values; therefore, the AXP PAC will not support them," the company said in a statement.

Blue Cross Blue Shield: "At the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, we continuously evaluate our political contributions to ensure that those we support share our values and goals," said Kim Keck, BlueCross BlueShield's president and CEO, in a statement. "In light of this week's violent, shocking assault on the United States Capitol, and the votes of some members of Congress to subvert the results of November's election by challenging Electoral College results, BCBSA will suspend contributions to those lawmakers who voted to undermine our democracy."

The health insurance company's BLUEPAC political action committee -- supported only by employee contributions -- donated $246,750 to Republican lawmakers during the 2020 cycle. That included $10,000 to Sen. Tuberville, $1,000 to Sen. Marshall and $500 to Sen. Hawley.

BlueCross BlueShield said it's stopping donations to all Republicans who challenged the Electoral College results.

Commerce Bank: Commerce Bank said it, too, is halting its PAC contributions to officials it says "have impeded the peaceful transfer of power." The bank donated a total of $49,750 to Republicans during the 2020 cycle, which included $2,500 to Sen. Marshall.

"Commerce Bank condemns violence in any form and believes the actions witnessed this week are abhorrent, anti-democratic and entirely contrary to supporting goodwill for Americans and businesses.

Dow Chemical: Dow said in an emailed statement that it is immediately suspending all corporate and employee political action committee contributions to any member of Congress who voted to object to the certification of the presidential election.

Dow said its suspension will last for one election cycle -- two years for House members and up to six years for Senators — which specifically includes donations to candidates' re-election committees and affiliated PACs.

Marriott: Marriott is following suit by suspending its PAC donations to lawmakers who opposed election results.

"We have taken the destructive events at the Capitol to undermine a legitimate and fair election into consideration and will be pausing political giving from our Political Action Committee to those who voted against certification of the election," the company said in a statement.

In an internal memo to employees on Friday, Citigroup said it would temporarily suspend all political giving from its PAC in the first quarter, referred to as the Citi PAC. The company also denounced candidates "who do not respect the rule of the law."

Suspending all donations

Some companies have opted to suspend donations to all politicians, regardless of whether or not they voted against upholding the Electoral College results.

Citigroup: Citi noted that of the legislators who contested the electoral college vote certification, Citigroup's PAC had given $1,000 to Sen. Hawley in 2019.

"We intend to pause our contributions during the quarter as the country goes through the Presidential transition and hopefully emerges from these events stronger and more united," said Candi Wolff, managing director and head of global government affairs, in the memo.

JPMorgan: Like Citi, JPMorgan said it will pause all political donations from the bank's PAC for six months.

"The country is facing unprecedented health, economic and political crises," said Peter Scher, head of corporate responsibility for JPMorgan. "The focus of business leaders, political leaders, civic leaders right now should be on governing and getting help to those who desperately need it most right now. There will be plenty of time for campaigning later."

Since the Capitol riots, a large number of companies and business leaders have come forward to condemn the violence that ensued in Washington, with some calling for Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th amendment. Social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram have banned President Trump from posting to his accounts for at least the remainder of his term in office -- 9 days -- or indefinitely. Twitter has permanently banned Trump from from its platform.