Four defense contractors among companies suspend political donations after Capitol riots
Defense contractors Northrop Grumman, Leidos, BAE Systems and Raytheon are among a growing number of companies that have announced a hiatus on political donations to members of Congress following violent riots at the U.S. Capitol. United last week.
Northrop – which paid roughly $ 4.8 million to Democrats and Republicans last year – on Monday became the first major defense firm to suspend donations.
“We are suspending the work of the Political Action Committee and assessing the way forward,” Northrop Grumman spokesman Tim Paynter said in a statement to The Hill.
The company did not say why it made the decision, which was first reported by Defense News.
Leidos followed suit on Tuesday, with the company’s chief executive officer Roger Krone announcing an immediate halt to all political donations.
“Violence, lawlessness and lawlessness have no place in our nation. We believe in civil political discourse and the fundamental right to protest peacefully, but strongly condemn violence or intimidation, ”Krone said in a statement. “In light of these events, the Leidos Political Action Committee (PAC) has decided to temporarily suspend all political donations.
Raytheon, meanwhile, said he had “suspended all political action committee contributions to reflect on the current environment and determine the appropriate next steps,” according to spokesman Chris Johnson.
And BAE Systems Inc., the US subsidiary of the British defense company of the same name, said it would suspend contributions in response to “deeply disturbing violence” last week.
“In response to the deeply disturbing violence on the United States Capitol on January 6, our United States Political Action Committee has suspended all donations while we assess the way forward,” BAE spokeswoman Tammy Thorp said. , in a statement to The Hill.
The four defense contractors join the growing list of companies that cut donations to politicians. Some companies, including Marriott, Dow Chemical, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, AT&T, Best Buy, and Amazon, specifically target the 147 Republican House and Senate members who opposed the Electoral College results and voted against it. affirmation of the elected president. Joe bidenthe victory of.
Defense companies have said, however, that they will temporarily suspend all donations from the Political Action Committee (PAC).
Several other major defense firms condemned the events of last week, but did not say whether they too would stop political donations, including second-largest defense supplier Boeing.
“The people’s vote and the peaceful transition of government are at the heart of our democracy. Our company has a long history of working with elected officials for many years. In a spirit of bipartisanship, we encourage them to work with President-elect BidenJoe Biden Are we investing trillions in what matters? Biden praises Reid as a fighter “for the America we all love” at Fox News memorial service tops ratings for coverage of the events of January 6 MORE to unify our nation ”, Chairman and CEO of Boeing, David Calhoun said in a Jan.7 statement.
Several defense associations also condemned the riots, including the Aerospace Industry Association and the National Defense Industrial Association.
Five people died in the attack on Capitol Hill by a pro-Trump mob on January 6, including a Capitol police officer and a protester who was shot and killed by a Capitol police officer.
Republican lawmakers had tried to challenge the results of Arizona and Pennsylvania, two swing states won by Biden, during and after the violent and deadly siege.
