House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (R-Missouri) Second letter The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation fined the Tides Foundation on Monday as it continues its investigation into donations from the left-leaning nonprofit.
Smith sent his first letter in May, investigating millions of dollars in donations the foundation received from the Tides Foundation, a donor-advised fund that allows individuals and corporations to donate money and redirect it as grants to other nonprofits.
The investigation marks a major shift in the historically close alliance between the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Republicans. The committee has exercised broader oversight authority over the tax-exempt sector since Smith became chairman at the beginning of the 118th Congress. Hold a public hearing Tuesday morning, “Tracing the Trail of Untaxed Money to Anti-Semitism.”
“As we have stated previously, we are concerned about the relationship between the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation (USCCF) and the Tides Foundation,” Smith wrote in a Monday letter to Michael Carney, who took over as chairman of the foundation’s board after Carolyn Corley resigned in May.
“Not only does the Tides Foundation support organizations that advocate for policies that are damaging to the American business community, it has also been at the center of anti-Semitic incidents on college campuses since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.”
The letter points to a report in the conservative magazine Tablet which revealed that groups involved in university protests against the Gaza war had previously received grants through the Taiz Foundation.
House Republicans have denounced the largely peaceful protests as anti-Semitic and grilled university leaders for failing to curb “growing anti-Semitism on college campuses,” as Smith put it in his letter.
“Given Tides Foundation’s ties to rising anti-Semitism on college campuses, the committee is concerned about why such an organization would facilitate donations to USCCF through a donor-advised fund (DAF) and why USCCF would be willing to accept donations through that organization,” Smith said.
The foundation did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.
According to tax records first reported by right-wing outlet Breitbart News, Tides donated more than $12 million to the foundation between 2018 and 2022 for causes including “economic development,” “project support” and “equality, human rights and economic empowerment.”
Breitbart accused the Chamber of Commerce of “relying on Soros-funded organizations and Democrats to keep its shrinking business afloat,” and noted that the nonprofit has received funding in the past from another left-leaning nonprofit, the Open Society Foundations. It was founded by billionaire Democratic megadonor George Soros, who himself is often the target of anti-Semitic attacks, conspiracy theories and the political right.
But federal disclosure laws make it virtually impossible to trace the flow of money from individual donors to grants, especially through donor-advised funds like the Tides Foundation, which raises and distributes hundreds of millions of dollars each year.
The Foundation opposes the Ways and Means Committee investigation and the Breitbart report that resulted from it. Reply letter “Certain corporations and corporate foundations have made donations to USCCF through Tides.”
He also noted that other “highly respected” nonprofits, including Goodwill, the Red Cross and the Make-A-Wish Foundation, also receive funding through the Tides Foundation.
Still, Smith seeks further clarification about the foundation’s “due diligence process” for donations, its criteria for rejecting donations, and its history of returning or rejecting donations “based on concerns about the views, beliefs or public statements of the donor or entity making the donation.”
“While you acknowledge in your response that Tides Foundation makes donations through DAFs to ‘organizations not affiliated with the Chamber and causes the Chamber opposes,’ I question whether USCCF knew about Tides Foundation’s partners prior to receiving donations through DAFs,” Smith wrote.
“It also raises the question of whether there are donations that the USCCF will reject,” he added.
