*{box-sizing:border-box}body{margin:0;padding:0}a[x-apple-data-detectors]{color:inherit!important;text-decoration:inherit!important}#MessageViewBody a{color:inherit;text-decoration:none}p{line-height:inherit}.desktop_hide,.desktop_hide table{mso-hide:all;display:none;max-height:0;overflow:hidden}.image_block img+div{display:none} @media (max-width:620px){.desktop_hide table.icons-outer{display:inline-table!important}.image_block div.fullWidth{max-width:100%!important}.mobile_hide{display:none}.row-content{width:100%!important}.stack .column{width:100%;display:block}.mobile_hide{min-height:0;max-height:0;max-width:0;overflow:hidden;font-size:0}.desktop_hide,.desktop_hide table{display:table!important;max-height:none!important}.reverse{display:table;width:100%}.reverse .column.first{display:table-footer-group!important}.reverse .column.last{display:table-header-group!important}.row-10 td.column.first .border,.row-8 td.column.first .border{padding:5px 5px 15px 25px;border-top:0;border-right:0;border-bottom:0;border-left:0}.row-10 td.column.last .border,.row-12 td.column.last .border,.row-8 td.column.last .border{padding:5px 20px 25px 5px;border-top:0;border-right:0;border-bottom:0;border-left:0}.row-12 td.column.first .border{padding:5px 5px 15px 25px;border-top:0;border-right:0;border-bottom:15px solid transparent;border-left:0}}
Welcome to The Hill's Business & Economy newsletter {beacon}
Business & Economy
Business & Economy
The Big Story
Chamber claps back at House committee inquiry
After the House Ways and Means Committee launched an inquiry into the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the pro-business lobbying giant pushed back on the investigation and reporting by a right-wing outlet on donations from a left-wing nonprofit that prompted it.
© Allison Robbert
The chair of the top tax-writing committee, Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.), sent a letter Monday to Chamber President and CEO Suzanne Clark and U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation President Carolyn Cawley requesting information on donations from the Tides Foundation.
The nonprofit has received funding from Open Society Foundations, another nonprofit founded by the billionaire Democratic megadonor George Soros, a frequent target of conspiracy theories and the political right.
The Tides Foundation gave more than $12 million to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation between 2018 and 2022 for purposes including “economic development,” “project support” and “equality, human rights and economic empowerment,” according to tax records first reported by the right-wing outlet Breitbart.
But Eric Eversole, president of the Hiring Our Heroes program at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, said the Breitbart report, which alleged the Chamber was turning to “to Soros-Funded groups and Democrats to keep dwindling operations alive,” was “inaccurate.”
“The Tides Foundation operates a donor advised fund, through which corporations and individuals make charitable donations. The funds received by the Chamber Foundation were charitable contributions from corporations made to the donor advised fund,” Eversole told The Hill.
Donor-advised funds allow an individual or company to give money to one nonprofit and direct those funds as grants to other nonprofits, making it difficult, if not impossible, to draw a direct line from an individual donor to a grant for a specific organization through a donor-advised fund.
That’s especially true for a nonprofit as large as the Tides Foundation, which reported raising $573.7 million and paying out $667 million in grants in 2022, according to its most recent Form 990.
“The issue you raise is exactly which donors funded these operations through the Tides Foundation and for what purpose. That’s a question the House Ways and Means Committee is investigating,” a Breitbart News spokesperson told The Hill when asked for comment on their reporting on the ultimate source of donor-advised funds.
Citing the Breitbart report, Smith said in his Monday letter that the Tides Foundation “partners with and sponsors several anti-business organizations” that appear to conflict with the Chamber’s mission to support small businesses.
The Republican chair also raised questions about the business lobbying giant’s tax-exempt status and wrote, “the Committee is concerned about whether donors to, and members of, organizations like yours have sufficient awareness of how their money is being spent."
Eversole said the funds were used for the Hiring Our Heroes program, which launched in 2011 to connect the military community with American businesses, as well as “smaller programs focused on workforce development.”
The Chamber has until May 20 to answer questions on how the Tides Foundation funds have been used, its decision to accepts funds from the Tides Foundation and what “taxpayers getting in return for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s tax-exempt status.”
The Hill’s Taylor Giorno has more here.
Welcome to The Hill’s Business & Economy newsletter, we’re Aris Folley and Taylor Giorno — covering the intersection of Wall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.
Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.
Essential Reads
Key business and economic news with implications this week and beyond:
Starbucks needs to refocus on coffee, former CEO says
Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz urged his successors to get back to basics as the company sees falling sales.
Full Story Medicare fund’s outlook improves on stronger economy, but long-term challenges persist
The financial outlook for Medicare improved in the past year, and the program’s funding to pay all the costs for hospital services of older and disabled beneficiaries won’t run out until 2036, five years later than last year’s estimated date.
Full Story Biden admin to fund $285M in development of digital twin semiconductors
The Biden administration will grant roughly $285 million in funding from the CHIPS for America Program for development and research of digital twins in the semiconductor industry, the Commerce Department and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced Monday.
Full Story The Ticker
Upcoming news themes and events we're watching:
- The Senate Budget Committee on Wednesday is set to hold a hearing focused on administrative burdens in health care at 10 a.m. E.T.
In Other News
Branch out with more stories from the day:
Stock market today: Wall Street rises to add to last week’s gains
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose Monday and added to their gains from last week, as technology companies …
Full Story Good to Know
Business and economic news we've flagged from other outlets:
- Dow climbs more than 170 points to post fourth straight winning day, propelled by rate cut hopes (CNBC)
- Why do brown eggs cost more than white eggs? Blame the bird (CNN)
- Tensions Rise in Silicon Valley Over Sales of Start-Up Stocks (The New York Times)
What Others are Reading
Top stories on The Hill right now:
Israel balks after Hamas says it agrees to cease-fire deal
Hamas says it has accepted an offer for a temporary cease-fire with Israel, as diplomatic negotiations intensify to free Israeli hostages held by Hamas and ward off an Israeli military operation on the southern Gazan city of Rafah. Read more
Georgia Republican backs Biden, blasts those in party who ‘fall in line’ with Trump
Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (R) revealed Monday he would be backing President Biden in November’s election and criticized other Republicans who “fall in line” with former President Trump. Read more
What People Think
Opinions related to business and economic issues submitted to The Hill:
- ‘Eat the Boomers’: How to repay America’s national debt
- ‘America First’ conservatives aren’t putting American workers first
You're all caught up. See you tomorrow!