CME Group joins wave of corporates freezing political donations
Derivatives market operator CME Group has announced that it will suspend all political contributions through CME Group’s Political Action Committee (PAC) for the foreseeable future.
The company said that this decision was made in response to the violent attack at the U.S. Capitol last week. In light of this appalling event, the company stated that it believes it is critical to reexamine its contribution policies to ensure anyone who receives PAC support shares the values of CME Group.
The CME’s decision comes after a number of corporate PACs – largely (but not exclusively) supporters of Republican candidates who are proponents of lower taxes and less regulation of corporate and financial America – wanted to make sure they weren’t supporting politicians who called and voted to overturn the confirmed results of the US Presidential election, which will see the inauguration of Joe Biden and the 46th President of the United States next week.
The storming of the Capitol occurred last week after 147 Republican Senators and Congress members voted against certification of the election results, in a joint session of Congress last Wednesday. According to many in the media (and of course in the Democratic party) that vote helped create the environment for the riot, pushing forward the notion that the election result was fraudulent and that the Presidency was stolen from Donald Trump. President Trump saw his Twitter account yanked as a result and faces a last attempt by the Democrats at impeachment, before ceding occupancy of the White House on January 20.
CME Group’s Political Action Committee (PAC) is a voluntary contribution program for eligible exchange members and employees and has historically supported members of office and political candidates that endorse a free market economy, regardless of political affiliation. The PAC serves to educate candidates around the role of futures markets and policies that promote the continued growth of the industry. Under federal law, CME Group itself may not make political contributions.
