Yesterday, Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) led 27 of their colleagues from the Senate Democratic Caucus in calling on Obama to finalize the executive order requiring corporations to disclose their political donations before submitting bids for government work. The administration released a draft executive order five years ago, but it has yet to be finalized.
Such an executive order could have a far-reaching effect given how many companies rely on contracts with the federal government. In the letter, the senators note that the federal government spent approximately $460 billion in FY2013 on private sector contracts, with almost 40 percent of that total going to just 25 major companies.
Here is the text of the letter:
Dear President Obama:
In your 2015 State of the Union address, you vociferously spoke out against the influx of anonymous spending endemic in the American political system. You have the support of the vast majority of the American public as you seek to address these issues. Citizens and voters of all political stripes realize that shadowy groups are anonymously collecting and spending vast sums on political advertisements and threatening our democracy.
Unfortunately, the majority party in Congress is not representing the majority of American people on this issue. In the Fiscal Year 2016 omnibus spending bill, Republicans in Congress succeeded in including dangerous policy riders further rolling back efforts made by your Administration to bring greater transparency to the political process. Specifically, Republicans secured language blocking the Internal Revenue Service from revising or issuing new rules governing the political spending of 501(c)(4) organizations, which some groups currently exploit to establish de facto political committees that can accept unlimited donations while enjoying both the anonymity and tax preferred status provided by 501(c)(4) status. The omnibus also blocks the Securities and Exchange Commission from finalizing a regulation that would require public corporations to disclose their political donations.
In light of these developments, it is imperative that your Administration use the remaining avenues available to promote greater disclosure and transparency in political spending. One specific action we encourage you to immediately take is to issue an Executive Order to require federal contractors to disclose their political donations. Some of us have previously urged you to issue this order. Now it is even more imperative. The federal government spent approximately $460 billion in FY2013 on private sector contracts. Almost 40 percent of that total, roughly $177 billion, went to just 25 major companies. Since 2000, the top 10 federal contractors have made $1.5 trillion from the federal government. The public deserves to know who is trying to influence them with political advertisements, and what business those responsible for such advertisements have before the federal government.
This type of disclosure is a modest step that would expose an especially troubling type of secret money: campaign contributions that have the potential to influence government contracting practices. As corporations spend more money on politics, it is vital to the integrity of the federal contracting system for the public to be able to see that their tax dollars are being allocated by merit and not to those seeking to engage in “pay to play” practices.”
It has been nearly five years wince the White House announced the Administration had a draft Executive Order that would require potential government contractors to reveal their political spending as a condition of submitting bids. But to date, no final order has been issued. As the nation heads full force into election season, and as we approach the 6th anniversary of the devastating Citizens United decision, now is the time to again turn your focus to this issue with both words and actions. You have the power and authority to immediately order disclosure of political spending by government contractors, and we encourage you to do so.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
The 27 senators who joined Wyden and Whitehouse were the following:
Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)
Michael Bennet (D-CO)
Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)
Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
Chris Coons (D-DE)
Dick Durbin (D-IL)
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
Al Franken (D-MN)
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
Martin Heinrich (D-NM)
Mazie Hirono (D-HI)
Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Pat Leahy (D-VT)
Ed Markey (D-MA)
Bob Menendez (D-NJ)
Jeff Merkley (D-OR)
Chris Murphy (D-CT)
Gary Peters (D-MI)
Jack Reed (D-RI)
Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
Brian Schatz (D-HI)
Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)
Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
Jon Tester (D-MT)
Tom Udall (D-NM)
Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
Almost all of these senators voted for two of the riders they condemned (by voting for the omnibus last month), but the measure they are advocating for is still very important.
If your senator is on the list, you should call to thank them. If they’re not on the list, you should call to ask them why and encourage them to join their colleagues.
