Hotel chain Marriott International, Inc. and top private health care insurance company Blue Cross Blue Shield Association suspended donations to Republican Party politicians who voted Jan. 6 against certifying president-elect Joe Biden's election victory.
The politicians affected by the industry leaders include 147 Republicans in the House of Representatives and six in the Senate led by Sen. Ted Cruz from Texas and Sen. Josh Hawley from Missouri.
The certification of Electoral College votes was interrupted by protestors who rioted at the U.S. Capitol in an attack that saw several fatalities. Presiding officer vice president Mike Pence had to seek shelter in a basement during the attack. The protestors backed claims by President Donald Trump that he should have won the election. Biden received 306 electors - 36 more than the 270 needed to win.
"We have taken the destructive events at the Capitol to undermine a legitimate and fair election into consideration and will be pausing political giving from our political action committee to those who voted against certification of the election," according to Marriott spokeswoman Connie Kim.
The association said "in light of the violent, shocking assault on the U.S. Capitol and the votes of some members of Congress to subvert the results of November's election by challenging college results, it will suspend contributions to those lawmakers who voted to undermine our democracy."
Marriott is the world's largest hotel chain while the association is a federation of 36 independent companies that provide health care coverage for one in three Americans - or more than 100 million people.
Funded by employee contributions, Marriott's political action committee contributed more than $410,000 in the Nov. 3 election, according to the Federal Election Commission. Marriott's political action committee donated $1,000 to Hawley's election campaign in November. The association's political action committee known as Bluepac donated money to Hawley's campaign.
Citibank said it would stop donating to any member of Congress that objected to the certification of Biden's college vote. Other corporations said they intended to take recent events into consideration before making future political donations.
Among these companies are Bank of America Corp., Ford Motor Co. and AT&T Communications, LLC. CVS Health Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp., FedEx Corp. and Target Corp. said they were reviewing political donations, according to Forbes.
On Sunday, the Professional Golfers' Association of America, proprietors of one of the sport's four major championships, said it will move its 2022 PGA Championship away from Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
"The PGA of America board of directors voted to exercise the right to terminate the agreement to play the 2022 PGA Championship at Trump Bedminster," said Jim Richerson, PGA of America president.
He said holding the tournament at Trump Bedminster might be "detrimental" to the PGA's brand and put the organization's ability to function "at risk."
The PGA's move is bound to anger Trump, an avid golfer. Trump has made some 300 daytime visits to golf clubs during his presidency, according to data compiled by Trump Golf Count, a website that tracks Trump's outings.
