Corporate America pulls political funding

Following in the footsteps of Marriott (NASDAQ:MAR), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) and Citigroup (NYSE:C), a growing number of big businesses have decided to suspend or review their campaign donations in the wake of last week's riot at the U.S. Capitol. The storming led to five deaths, including one police officer, prompting many C-suite executives to take action. There is widespread anger in the business community at what they see as a challenge against any disruption in the "peaceful transition of power," or the democratic stability on which business depends. Pausing all political spending: American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL), Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM), BlackRock (NYSE:BLK), Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX), BP (NYSE:BP), Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW), ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP), Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Google (GOOG, GOOGL), Kroger (NYSE:KR), Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP), U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) and UPS (NYSE:UPS).

Suspending donations to Republicans who objected to electoral votes: Airbnb (NASDAQ:ABNB), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), American Express (NYSE:AXP), AT&T (NYSE:T), Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA), Dow Inc. (NYSE:DOW), General Electric (NYSE:GE), Mastercard (NYSE:MA) and Verizon (NYSE:VZ).

Some statistics: In the 2020 election, Republican candidates and committees received a total of $205M in campaign donations from corporate PACs, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, while Democratic candidates and causes received $155M.

Thought bubble: This is not the period in the political cycle when candidates are out raising money. Since most PACs donate closer to presidential and legislative votes, it'll be interesting to see how much lasting pain Corporate America will inflict as the midterm elections approach in November 2022. (Thanks to Seeking Alpha)