Anti-corporate Democrats take cash from PACs funded by major corporations: 'Total frauds'

House Democrats who have vowed to decline cash from corporate PACs or tried to ban them pocketed large donations in the second quarter of 2023 from committees bankrolled by major corporations, records show.

Reps. Jared Golden (D-ME), Mike Levin (D-CA), and Chris Pappas (D-NH) in 2021 and 2022 co-sponsored the Ban Corporate PACs Act, which would prohibit "for-profit corporations from establishing or operating a separate segregated political fund." Still, the long-shot proposal hasn't stopped the cohort and other Democrats critical of corporate PACs from taking tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions between April and June from corporate-backed leadership committees or, in some cases, corporations themselves, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

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"Corporate money seeps all through the political system," Craig Holman, a government affairs lobbyist for the left-leaning think tank Public Citizen, told the Washington Examiner, noting this reality makes it difficult for Democrats to follow an anti-corporate PAC pledge. "I don't object to the ban, but corporate money gets into these campaigns anyway through other vehicles — if not directly from corporate PACs."

In the last several years, dozens of Democratic members of Congress have sworn off corporate PAC money to try to distance themselves from perceived special interests. The move has led to calls of hypocrisy from Republicans since many top companies have continued to pour contributions into Democratic campaign coffers.

Lobbyists and other government affairs staffers typically run corporate PACs and authorize donations, even though the committees fundraise from stockholders and senior employees, according to End Citizens United, a left-wing advocacy group.

Golden, who in May 2020 said in an anti-corporate PAC money advertisement he is "fighting for the Mainers who work hard just to keep up with the bills," has continued to have his war chest boosted thanks to corporate PAC-funded Democratic leadership committees. In backing the ban on corporate PACs, Golden said the “government should be responsive to the people, not corporate special interests."

The Maine Democrat was on the receiving end of $17,000 in campaign donations from eight leadership committees backed by corporate PACs, according to a Washington Examiner analysis of second-quarter disclosures. For instance, Blue Hen Federal PAC, which is affiliated with Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), cut Golden a $5,000 check in June.

Blue Hen hasn't disclosed taking cash since December 2022. That same year, it received over $168,000 combined from PACs for corporations, including Delta Air Lines, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook parent company Meta, Pfizer, Toyota, FedEx, Visa, and JPMorgan, according to filings.

"Total frauds," Will Reinert, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, told the Washington Examiner. "As soon as these House Democrats think no one is watching they back up the Brink truck and take corporate PAC money by the sack-load."

Robert F. Bukaty/AP

Levin received more than $20,000 in the second quarter of 2023 from 13 corporate-backed leadership committees, including those affiliated with Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), Gerry Connolly (D-VA), and Sara Jacobs (D-CA), according to filings.

Rep. Suzan Delbene's (D-WA) Evergreen PAC contributed $3,000 in June to Levin's campaign after the $2,500 it gave in 2022. Evergreen PAC, which registered with the FEC in 2015, raked in around $173,000 between 2021 and 2022 from PACs for a variety of corporations, including Comcast, T-Mobile, Visa, Microsoft, and CVS, according to filings.

Similarly, Levin's campaign took $1,000 in June from Shore PAC, which is affiliated with Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ) and backed by the likes of PACs for AT&T;, CVS, and Amazon.

"Since I started running for Congress, I haven’t taken a dime in corporate PAC money," Levin tweeted in May 2022. "I'm proud to have cosponsored the Ban Corporate PACs Act, which would stop corporate PACs altogether."

Then there's Pappas, who said during his first campaign in March 2018 that he "will not be accepting any corporate PAC money." The congressman hauled in over $31,000 during the second quarter from 17 Democratic leadership committees funded by corporate PACs, according to a Washington Examiner analysis of disclosures. Some of these leadership committees are affiliated with the likes of Reps. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), and James Clyburn (D-SC), as well as Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ).

Rep. Jeanne Shaheen's (D-NH) A New Direction PAC, which gave the Pappas campaign $5,000 in June after its $5,000 donation in March, has been supported by corporate PACs for Lockheed Martin, Meta, Deloitte, General Electric, FedEx, Boeing, Comcast, Anheuser-Busch, and more, according to filings.

Meanwhile, Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-CT), who said she wouldn't take corporate PAC dollars, received $5,000 in May from Home Depot's committee and $1,000 apiece from PACs for Voya Financial and Verizon in June.

"All PACs are not created equal," Hayes said in 2018. "When I go to Congress, I will fight and make campaign finance reform a priority. I will fight to make sure that over and over again we keep bringing up the issue of how are our campaigns funded."

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Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-RI) accepted $22,000 combined in quarter two from 15 corporate PACs, including Visa, Verizon, AT&T, and General Dynamics. The congressman has promised to stand up to "corporate special interests."

Campaigns for Golden, Levin, Pappas, Hayes, and Magaziner did not return requests for comment.