According to a report from Politico, Republican Party leaders are furious that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has thrown its support behind policies being proposed by newly-elected President Joe Biden.
With Democrats now controlling the White House and both chambers of Congress, the extremely business-friendly trade association is now praising Biden’s COVID-relief plans, his decision to rejoin the Paris climate agreement, and backed the choice of Neera Tanden — who has been a thorn in the side of Republicans — to head up the Office of Management and Budget.
According to Politico, after four years of Donald Trump, the move is not totally unexpected as the Chamber has been gradually siding with Democrats for some time now.
“After the Chamber backed nearly two dozen freshman House Democrats for reelection last year, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told Fox News he didn’t want the Chamber’s endorsement ‘because they have sold out,’ ” Politico reports adding former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) claimed he believed the Chamber was “so confused about what they’re about that they probably don’t make much difference.”
According to the Chamber, they are doing what they have always done: working with an administration on issues where they have common ground and pushing back where they differ.
In an interview, Chamber executive vice president Neil Bradley shut down the Republican’s contention that they should support the more conservative party.
“Some people may have assumed that somehow the Chamber was an arm of a political party. They were wrong in that assumption,” he explained before once again reiterating the trade groups support for Tanden by stating, “The Chamber’s consistent in believing that people who have basic qualifications should be confirmed and that we should have deference to the elected policymakers.”
As it stands, Republican’s loss of support from the Chamber can also be attributed to the Trump years.
“The Chamber’s willingness to work with Biden follows an often rocky relationship with Trump,” Politico reports. “Itchampioned Trump’s tax cuts and deregulation, but recoiled at the president’s protectionist instincts and his castigation of tech companies. The Chamber also joined with the National Association of Manufacturers and other trade groups to sue the Trump administration over its executive orders on immigration and bashed Trump’s moves on drug pricing.”
As for the future, the report states the Chamber is reviewing its support for any GIOP lawmaker who attempted to question the result of the 2020 presidential election that — in part — led to the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan 6th and is the focus of Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial.
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Source: rawstory.com
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