By David Shepardson and Jessica DiNapoli
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Marriott International Inc, the world’s largest hotel company, and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) said Sunday they will suspend donations to U.S. lawmakers who voted against certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s victory last week.
“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,” Marriott spokeswoman Connie Kim said, confirming a report in Popular Information, a political newsletter.
BCBSA, the federation of 36 independent companies that provide health care coverage for one in three Americans, said “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, BCSBA will suspend contributions to those lawmakers who voted to undermine our democracy.”
Citigroup Inc said in a memo to employees seen by Reuters that it reviewed lawmakers who led the charge against the certification of the Electoral College and found it gave $1,000 to the campaign of Republican Senator Josh Hawley.
“We want you to be assured that we will not support candidates who do not respect the rule of law. 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,” wrote Candi Wolff, who heads Citi’s global government affairs team.Other companies, including Ford Motor Co, have made no decisions about changes to giving.
(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington and Jessica DiNapoli in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
