While over 1,000 insurrectionists face charges for their involvement in the January 6th attack on the Capitol, businesses and industry groups continue to pour donations into the campaigns and leadership PACs of our country’s most powerful seditionist lawmakers. Since January 6, 2021, corporate and industry group PACs have donated more than $100 million to members of the Sedition Caucus, which includes the 147 lawmakers who voted against the certification of the 2020 election, the 20 lawmakers that ran on the Big Lie in 2022 and former President Donald Trump. 

The January 6th insurrection represented an unprecedented backsliding in American democracy. For the first time in United States history, one of the basic tenets of our democracy, the peaceful transfer of power, faced a serious disruption—not just from angry rioters wielding weapons in the Capitol building, but from a staggering number of elected officials who had sworn oaths to uphold the Constitution. The insurrection was shocking, but not entirely unpredictable. Prior to the Capitol attack, Trump and allies in Congress barraged the public with tweets and other statements casting doubt upon the integrity of the election system and the accuracy of the results, often by advancing plainly false and extreme conspiracy theories. 

In the two weeks following election night, Trump posted more than 300 tweets discrediting the results, attacking the ballot counting process, accusing Dominion Voting Systems of rigging the election and declaring himself the actual winner. Meanwhile, lawmakers amplified Trump’s claims of election fraud. Some, like Representatives Jim Jordan and Scott Perry, spoke at “Stop the Steal” rallies. Moreover, in December 2020, 106 members of the House of Representatives signed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to overturn the election results in key battleground states, citing false allegations of election fraud. 

Although corporations didn’t weigh in on the electoral fraud claims and lawsuits leading up to January 6th, the insurrection was a flashpoint—and a bridge too far for many of them. After the violent attack on the Capitol on January 6th, nearly 250 companies suspended donations to the 147 members of Congress who voted against election certification in 2020. Finally, it seemed, a line had been drawn. Three and a half years later, however, the vast majority of companies that originally made this pledge and publicly proclaimed their dedication to democratic values have now resumed their donations to those lawmakers that betrayed the Constitution and legitimized the Big Lie by voting against election certification.

Like nothing ever happened

The past year saw a disappointing increase in the number of companies who have abandoned their pledges to stop supporting the Sedition Caucus. Since January 2023, 28 companies reversed course on funding the Sedition Caucus, including companies such as Microsoft, Meta, Pepsico and Bank of America. This brings the total number of companies who have reversed their position to 212. The consequences are significant. As a result of these retreats from earlier commitments, an additional $33.5 million has been injected into the accounts of seditionist lawmakers. 

Some of these same companies have started initiatives to promote democracy despite abandoning their prior commitments. While almost none of the companies pledged to withhold donations from these members in perpetuity, the contrast between their professed commitment to democracy and their support of members of Congress who undermined democracy is glaring. In February 2024, major tech companies, including Adobe, Amazon, Google, IBM, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI and TikTok, convened at the Munich Security Conference to adopt the “Tech Accord to Combat Deceptive Use of AI in 2024 Elections” aimed at preventing AI-generated election fraud. In 2018, Microsoft launched its Democracy Forward initiative which “works to protect open and secure democratic processes and preserve access to trusted journalism to help build a healthier information ecosystem.” Similarly, in March 2023, Meta participated in the second Summit for Democracy, a global convening of governments, civil society actors and private businesses, co-hosted by President Biden as well as other governments. During that time, Meta announced its own commitments to advancing democracy which included “countering government abuse of digital technology” and “respecting human rights and protecting human rights defenders.” 

Yet these same companies continue to support the lawmakers who threatened our democracy in tangible ways here at home in the aftermath of the 2021 presidential election. Amazon has donated $139,500 to 36 seditionists; Microsoft has donated $102,500 to 36 seditionists; and Meta donated $23,000 to 16 seditionists.

Mounting power, growing funds

Of the current lawmakers in the Sedition Caucus, Representatives Jason Smith, Steve Scalise, Richard Hudson, Blaine Luetkemeyer and Sam Graves have received the most support from corporate and industry PACs: Smith received over $3.9 million from 575 companies; Scalise received over $3.6 million from 384 companies; Hudson received over $2.6 million from 384 companies; Luetkemeyer received over $2.5 million from 312 companies; and Graves received over $2.4 million from 354 companies. Although 8 senators are in the Sedition Caucus, none of the top recipients of corporate and industry group funding are senators. 

The top recipient of corporate and industry group funding overall is former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, who resigned from Congress in December 2023. McCarthy received over $4.1 million from 395 different companies.

In the wake of January 6th, Rep. Scalise refused to answer whether or not the 2020 election was stolen. When pressed by Fox News Host Chris Wallace to clarify his position, Scalise responded by parroting false claims that states “did not follow the laws set which the Constitution says they’re supposed to follow” during the election. After the 2020 election results were finalized, Representatives Jason Smith and Sam Graves, alongside two other Republican lawmakers, published a press release declaring their intent to overturn the results, stating that the election process was “spoiled and abused by officials not following their own state law.”  McCarthy, Graves, Hudson, Scalise and Smith went beyond voting against certifying the election results in their pursuit to undermine American democracy. All three lawmakers sought to limit accountability in the wake of January 6th by voting against Trump’s second impeachment and against the creation of the January 6th committee. Additionally, Scalise and Smith signed onto amicus briefs in support of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s lawsuit that sought to throw out the election results from several key states won by President Biden. 

These lawmakers held powerful positions in the 118th Congress. McCarthy served as Speaker of the House from early January until October 2023. Scalise serves as majority leader of the House, putting him second-in-command to current Speaker Mike Johnson. In January 2023, Smith became the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. CREW analyzed which members of Congress have done the most to undercut democracy, and which companies have supported them the most, in a report setting out a layered approach to evaluating where corporations fall in terms of their commitment to democracy. 

More generally, seditionist lawmakers have not only evaded any form of accountability for their role in the insurrection, but many have been elevated by their party to powerful positions in Congress. Currently, twelve members of the Sedition Caucus are chairs of House committees. This means that more than half of House committees are helmed by seditionists. 

• Jim Jordan, Judiciary
• Jodey Arrington, Budget
• Virginia Foxx, Education and Workforce 
• Sam Graves, Transportation
• Mike Bost, Veterans Affairs
• Tom Cole, Rules
• Roger Williams, Small Business
• Glenn Thompson, Agriculture
• Mike Rogers, Armed Services
• Mark Green, Homeland Security
• Frank Lucas, Science
• Jason Smith, Ways and Means 

Some corporate donors have failed to stand up for accountability as well, sacrificing support for democracy in favor of continuing to ensure access to key legislators via campaign donations. With new and influential leadership assignments, many seditionists have seen their donations skyrocket. Representative Jason Smith, for example, saw an incredible 2,900% increase in donations towards his leadership PAC in 2023, following his appointment as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. Similarly, Representative Tom Cole, who took over as the new chair of the House Rules Committee early in 2023, saw a 236% increase in donations between the first two quarters of 2021 and the same time period in 2023.  

Representative Mike Johnson became House speaker in October. Johnson, like McCarthy, voted against the certification of the 2020 election results, but his role in January 6th goes much deeper. A New York Times investigation described Johnson as “the most important architect of the Electoral College objections” for his role in devising the legal arguments many members relied on in justifying their votes on January 6th to block certification. Johnson kept in close contact with former President Trump in the days following the 2020 presidential election, strategizing about how to undermine the results of the election. Those conversations included talk of a Supreme Court showdown. “I think there’s at least five justices on the court that will do the right thing,” Johnson reportedly said. A month later, Johnson announced he was leading the effort to file an amicus brief on behalf of House Republicans in support of a lawsuit filed by the state of Texas that challenged election procedures in several states. 

Since Johnson became the Speaker of the House, corporate and industry group donations to him have significantly accelerated. Between January and February of 2022, prior to assuming the speakership, Johnson received $79,000 in corporate and industry PAC contributions. After assuming the speakership, however, Johnson received a whopping $143,000 in the same time window two years later. Today, political donations to Johnson’s campaign and leadership PACs total roughly $1.9 million, with the largest contributions coming from the National Association of Broadcasters ($60,550), Koch Industries ($55,000), the National Multifamily Housing Council ($39,500), the American Bankers Association ($35,000), and Boeing ($35,000).

Moreover, Sedition Caucus members now constitute considerable proportions of some of the most powerful committees in Congress. Of the 28 Republican members of the Financial Services Committee, exactly half voted against the certification of the 2020 election. In the House Judiciary Committee, 13 of the 24 Republican members are part of the Sedition Caucus. On the Oversight and Accountability Committee, 16 of the 25 members are also seditionists. 

Meanwhile, many of those few Republicans who broke against party lines and took a stand to protect democracy have now either resigned or been ousted from their seats. Of the 10 Republicans who voted in favor of Trump’s second impeachment, eight are no longer in Congress, including Liz Cheney who played a key role on the House Select Committee to investigate January 6th. Cheney lost her seat to the Trump-endorsed Harriet Hageman. Hageman has characterized attempts to hold Trump accountable for his actions related to January 6th as a “witch hunt.” In February 2024, she co-sponsored a resolution stating that Trump did not engage in insurrection. 

The biggest spenders

Corporate donors

In total, corporations have donated $66 million to Sedition Caucus members’ campaigns and leadership PACs. Koch Industries remains the top donor to seditionists in Congress, contributing $1.63 million to 105 members. Koch Industries gave the most funds to Speaker Mike Johnson ($55,000), Rep. Morgan Griffith ($35,000), Rep. Gary Palmer ($35,000), and Rep. Richard Hudson ($33,000), of members currently in office. Palmer and Hudson also supported the lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to undermine the 2020 election results in key battleground states, in addition to voting against the creation of the January 6th committee and the second Trump impeachment. 

AT&T is the second largest contributor to the Sedition Caucus, giving $1.2 million to 130 members. AT&T has given the most to Speaker Mike Johnson ($30,000), Rep. Jason Smith ($30,000), and Rep. Elise Stefanik ($30,000). AT&T released a statement in the wake of the insurrection announcing its intention to cease all contributions to the lawmakers who voted not to certify the 2020 election. The other top corporate donors are American Crystal Sugar Company ($1.1 million to 115 members), UPS ($1 million to 109 members) and Lockheed Martin ($1 million to 118 members). 

AT&T’s position at the top of the list represents a significant ramping up of its contributions since 2021. In 2023, AT&T donated $394,000 to the Sedition Caucus, a 19,800% increase compared to the annual amount the company donated in 2021. Home Depot, the sixth largest corporate donor, also ramped up its giving. In 2023, Home Depot donated $312,500 to seditionist lawmakers, 557% more than it did in 2021.

Industry groups

Trade association groups, which represent major industries and have corporations as their funders and members, have given over $48 million to the campaign and leadership PACs of Sedition Caucus members through their own PACs, with the top donors being the American Bankers Association ($1.5 million to 140 members), the National Association of Realtors ($1.4 million to 137 members), the National Automobile Dealers Association ($1.38 million to 136 members), the National Beer Wholesalers Association ($1.29 million to 140 members) and the National Association of Homebuilders ($1.19 million to 141 members). 

The American Bankers Association, the voice of the $24 trillion American banking industry, gave the most to Speaker Mike Johnson ($35,000), Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer ($35,000) and Rep. Steve Scalise ($35,000). Rep. Luetkemeyer holds a coveted spot on the House Financial Services Committee, which oversees issues related to monetary policy and the economy as a whole. 

The National Association of Realtors contributed $29,000 to Rep. Gary Palmer and $28,000 to Speaker Mike Johnson. Palmer has staunchly criticized the various attempts by state and federal prosecutors to hold Trump accountable. In response to the verdict by a Manhattan jury which found Trump guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records, Palmer characterized the conviction as a “form of political assassination.” Similarly, Palmer described the federal indictment against Trump for his mishandling of classified documents as the “weaponization of the Department of Justice against President Biden’s political enemies.”

The National Automobile Dealers Association’s top recipients were Rep. Roger Williams ($30,000), Rep. Elise Stefanik ($25,000), Rep. Mike Kelly ($25,000), Rep. Jodey Arrington ($25,000) and Rep. Steve Scalise ($25,000). Arrington, who serves as Chairman of the House Budget Committee, referred to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack as “dramatized and mischaracterized.”

The National Beer Wholesalers Association donated $30,000 to Rep. Richard Hudson, $29,000 to Speaker Mike Johnson, and $27,500 to Rep. Elise Stefanik. Stefanik has referred to Jan. 6 defendants as “hostages” and even stated that had she been Vice President under President Trump she would not have certified the 2020 election results. More concerningly, by her own admission, the 2020 election isn’t the only election Stefanik might try to undermine. In an interview with Meet the Press, Stefanik responded to a question about accepting the 2024 election results with the following: “We will see if this is an honest and legal election.”

Standing by pledges

Corporations may see political giving as a way to get a seat at the table. But today, the proverbial table is fragile. By giving large sums of money to those who violated the Constitution and refused to certify the 2020 election, these corporations are bankrolling its fracture, in spite of even their own interests: a stable democracy is good for business. 

In spite of the pressures to return to business as usual, some companies have remained committed to upholding democracy. Today, 37 companies, out of the original 249, have kept their promise not to donate to the lawmakers who voted against certifying the 2020 election results. These include several Fortune 500 companies such as Nike, General Mills, Clorox, Whirlpool and Cisco Systems. 

These examples demonstrate that funding seditionist lawmakers is a choice: it’s possible for corporations to uphold democracy without sacrificing their success. They also show that companies that have resumed giving shouldn’t have an excuse. We recognize these companies to spotlight and commend their dedication to this important issue, and with the hope that they continue to keep their commitments and that others may follow suit.