Chamber of Commerce pushes back on Ways and Means Committee inquiry

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is rejecting a House Ways and Means Committee investigation into donations it received from left-leaning nonprofits and reporting by right-wing news outlets that sparked the investigation.

Rep. Jason Smith (R-Missouri), chairman of the Main Tax Writing Committee, said: letter On Monday, we asked Chamber President and CEO Suzanne Clark and U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation President Carolyn Corey for information about the Tides Foundation donation.

The Tides Foundation is funded by the Open Society Foundations, a nonprofit founded by billionaire Democratic megadonor George Soros, who is a frequent target of conspiracy theories and the political right.

From 2018 to 2022, tax records first reported by the right-wing news outlet Breitbart News show that the Tides Foundation has invested in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation for purposes such as “economic development,” “project support,” and “equality and humanity.” He had donated more than $12 million. Rights and economic empowerment. ”

But Eric Ebersole, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Hiring Our Heroes program, said in a Breitbart report: Suspect It was “inaccurate” that the chamber would “call on Soros-funded groups and the Democratic Party to keep a shrinking business afloat.”

“The Tides Foundation operates a donor-advised fund in which companies and individuals make charitable contributions. The funds received by the Chamber Foundation were charitable contributions from companies made to the donor-advised fund. ” Ebersole told The Hill.

Donor Advised Funds allow individuals or businesses to donate money to a nonprofit organization and then direct that money to other nonprofits as grants. Federal disclosure rules make it impossible, if not impossible, to draw a direct line from individual donors to grants to specific organizations through donor-advised funds, especially those the size of the Tides Foundation. It’s becoming difficult. The Tides Foundation reported raising $573.7 million and disbursing $667 million in grants in 2022. Latest form 990.

“The question you raise is precisely which donors funded these operations through the Tides Foundation and for what purpose. That is the question the House Ways and Means Committee is investigating,” Breitbart said. -A news spokesperson told The Hill when asked for comment on the report on the donor-advised final funding source.

In Monday’s letter, Smith cited a Breitbart report that said the Tides Foundation had “partnered with several anti-business organizations” that appeared to contradict the chamber’s mission of supporting small businesses. , and raised questions about the tax-exempt status of business lobby giant Tides. .

“These reports are concerning because the Commission is evaluating whether tax-exempt organizations like the USCC and USCCF are operating for tax-exempt purposes that have enabled them to obtain tax-exempt status. In addition, the Committee is concerned about whether donors and members of organizations like yours are fully aware of how their funds are being used. ,” Smith wrote.

Ebersole said most of the funding will go to the “Hiring Our Heroes” program, launched in 2011 to connect the military community with U.S. businesses, as well as “smaller programs focused on workforce development.” He said that it had been allocated.

Smith asked not only how funds from the Tides Foundation were spent, but also why they were accepting funds from the Tides Foundation, whether they shared the nonprofit’s vision, and whether “taxpayers are supporting U.S. Commerce and Industry.” It also gave the Chamber of Commerce and Industry until May 20 to explain in detail “what kind of compensation the Chamber is getting in return.” Commerce Foundation Tax Exempt Status. ”

Updated at 3:15 p.m. EDT.