“We said early on … that we will engage the business community and we will reach out and interact,” Cedric Richmond, director of the White House’s public engagement office, said in an interview. ‘You have to realize that these are big employers of probably millions of Americans. You can not talk to them. ”
The cautious courtship between America and the Biden White House could play a critical role in the president’s agenda, as he promotes an infrastructure bill through Congress and promotes political policies, including immigration, racial justice and gun violence, without legislators. It also reflects a seismic shift in the political landscape, where Democrats not too long ago tried to crush the opposition of business leaders rather than work with them, and were generally business-friendly Republicans in line with the US business world rather than base from time to time. It.
“What President Biden realizes is that issues are now ready to get involved and that they are an important voice at the table,” said Valerie Jarrett, who served as President Obama’s liaison officer with America’s business life. ‘Big business does not just rely on Republicans to look after their interests. They look after their own interests and become more involved. ”
The evidence of involvement has grown over the past few years. PayPal has canceled plans to open a global operations center in Charlotte after North Carolina passed a law restricting transgender rights in 2016. Walmart and Dick’s Sporting Goods have raised the age of gun sales following the mass shooting at a Parkland, Florida school in 2018. But it has been even more pronounced recently, when Delta and Coca-Cola challenged a controversial Georgia law which puts new demands on the vote.
Last weekend, more than a hundred business leaders held a rare online meeting to discuss what action they should take in response to similar voting bills being considered in countries across the country. Lynn Forester de Rothschild, founder of the Coalition for Inclusive Capitalism and one of the three people who helped coordinate the meeting, urged Biden to be more outspoken about his desire to work with business leaders.
“My tendency is to trust him not to be in the pocket of companies at the expense of people and planet, but he definitely wants a vibrant business community that cares about our society,” she said in an interview.
Maybe he acknowledges the risks, but so far Biden has avoided that type public engagement that Rothschild wants. Progressive figures in the Democratic Party, who have long been skeptical of the US business community, have pushed the president to embrace business leaders and criticized some of Biden’s appointments with corporate ties. When Biden met with corporate executives during the transition, there were more union leaders in the meeting than executives. As president, according to Richmond, he has had only two major meetings with CEOs. During the meetings, Biden met with about 25 leaders from, among others, Walmart, Ford Motor Company, AT&T Communications, Gap, Lowe’s Companies.
Still, Biden has hinted that he wants to take advantage of the emerging socially conscious movement in corporate boardrooms. In February, at a CNN town hall, he hinted that businesses could help drive policy around police reform, pointing out that they tend to react to the attitude of their consumers.
“If you want to know where the American public is, then look at the money spent on advertising,” Biden said. “Did you think five years ago that every second or third ad out of five or six you’d light up would be bisexual couples?” Matters, he added, ‘think differently. They are more open. And we have to take advantage of that. ”
An adviser to Biden said the president also expressed similar feelings about businesses privately. “I think he has an appreciation for the role that American business can play in dealing with what we would define as social, political and cultural issues – not least because he understands that businesses that face consumers stare, it is essential to understand their market, “ said the adviser.
Biden leaves the White House’s corporate outreach largely to his team, led by Richmond, who has ties to major oil and gas companies, and Brian Deese, who worked at BlackRock, the world’s largest investment manager, and now director of the National Economic Council is. . Sometimes Chief of Staff Ron Klain and Steve Ricchetti, Presidential Councilor, will also call.
Gina Raimondo, a former venture capitalist who clashed with unions when she cut taxes and eliminated regulations to support businesses as governor of Rhode Island, also plays a leading role in discussions with the business community, especially on the infrastructure proposal. American Jobs. Plan. According to her office, she spoke to 100 business leaders and labor leaders about Covid-19, infrastructure, manufacturing and broadband.
“When we look at the outreach we are doing, it’s almost like a situation with all kinds of decks,” Richmond said. “Some CEOs and many companies get multiple touches from a lot of people.”
In the background of all the outreaches is the crumbling relationship between America and the members of the Republican Party.
Top companies have begun returning donations to Republicans, and in many cases withholding money from elected officials in Congress who voted against confirming the November election. And while CEOs are fighting for suffrage, Republicans have responded by working harder against it.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) Promises a sustained attempt to defeat ‘awake capitalists’, which he has accused of a war of ‘retaliation and oppression’ against ‘anyone who stands for electoral integrity’. Last week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell threatened “serious consequences” for companies seeking revenge on state Republican bills. “My warning, if you will, is the American company to stay out of politics,” he said. “This is not what you were designed for.”
Although the White House has tried to exploit the outburst between Republicans and corporate leaders, officials there remain careful not to upset progressives and allies. Over the past few weeks, Biden has taken the unusual step of encouraging an unsuccessful bid by Amazon employees in Alabama to form a union. And weeks later, when he discussed businesses that paid little or no federal taxes, the president singled out Amazon by name – even though it was primarily an accusation of the current tax system. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos responded by saying he supports higher taxes.
‘He kept us big and calm [Democratic] coalition together without shutting down the CEOs, ”said Matt Bennett of the center-left group Third Way about Biden’s approach. “He did not insult anyone or try to pit one against the other, which is smart.”
Biden’s ambitious infrastructure package could test its ability to hold that coalition together. CEOs and business groups, including the Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable, which represent leaders of more than 200 businesses, have largely rejected the U.S. Jobs Plan and criticized the proposed corporate tax increases that would pay for the projects. The Business Roundtable, which runs digital and radio commercials against it, did not want to offer an official to be questioned for this story. “We have an open line of communication and good involvement in the administration,” the group said in a statement. The chamber of commerce also did not make an official available.
Some CEOs and business organizations grumbled about the lack of outreach of the administration. But the White House says such complaints have been misplaced. They note that Richmond and Deese met with the heads of Bank of America, State Street, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs during a session organized by the Financial Services Forum and briefed 25 members of the CEO of the Business Roundtable about the infrastructure plan. According to the White House, more than 4,000 small businesses attended a virtual event on the U.S. Jobs Plan on Tuesday.
The White House provided a list of nearly 60 companies and business groups that supported the proposal.
“It’s not a matter of being sociable with companies,” Jarrett said. or labor. It is ‘both and’. ”
Robert Diamond, who served as director of private involvement in the Obama White House and is now a lobbyist, said U.S. businesses generally support Biden’s three key priorities: combating the pandemic, infrastructure investment – though not the increases in corporate taxes – and tackling climate change. alter. In that respect, the political stars have aligned for the current government, giving them an agenda that calls for big business while maintaining credibility with their Democratic base.
“It’s a unique situation in the fact that three of the big things the administration is coming out of the gate, in my opinion, is really big support in the business community,” Diamond said.
Theodoric Meyer contributed.