Microsoft confirms it halted all donations of its PAC while it decides by Feb. 15 whether to suspend donations to those who voted against election certification
Microsoft confirmed publicly today, as it announced internally on Jan. 8, that it has halted all donations of its PAC …
Microsoft On the Issues
Context & Ripple Effects
Microsoft had already announced the halt internally on Jan. 8; this confirmation makes it public policy, with a hard decision date of Feb. 15 on cutting off the 147-style objectors. The move lands days after president Brad Smith defended the company's political contributions to skeptical employees, so the pause is as much an internal-legitimacy play as a political one.
The company is not acting alone: Facebook had already said it would freeze its own PAC through at least Q1, joining Microsoft and Google, turning a single-company review into a sector-wide reassessment of corporate political money.
First-order effects
Members of Congress who voted against election certification now face a frozen donation pipeline from one of the largest corporate PACs, with a Feb. 15 deadline determining whether the freeze becomes permanent for them.
Microsoft's PAC staff and the recipients of its routine bipartisan giving lose their usual flow of funds immediately, pending the review.
Second-order effects
Peer tech companies are forced to take a position: Facebook's Q1 PAC freeze followed Microsoft's lead, and Google was named alongside both, raising the cost for any large tech firm that keeps donating business-as-usual.
Corporate PACs are shifting from automatic bipartisan distribution toward conditional funding keyed to conduct criteria like certification votes, with employee pressure functioning as an enforcement mechanism inside the largest firms.
If the pattern holds, lawmakers' access to tech-industry money becomes contingent on election-related behavior, restructuring how congressional campaigns fundraise from the sector.
The trend: Big Tech is replacing routine bipartisan PAC giving with conditional, employee-sensitive funding rules that tie contributions to lawmakers' conduct around election certification.
Following complaints from Microsoft employees, Brad Smith, the company's president, said the company needs the Microsoft Political Action Committee. https://www.cnbc.com/...
3. The announcement comes the day after a leaked transcript showed @Microsoft President Brad Smith defending PAC donations as “important” because they allow Microsoft to get access and “help” from politicians https://twitter.com/...
Halting “all” donations is also cowardly. Defund the seditionists but support the party and candidates who fought FOR democracy https://twitter.com/...
1. @Microsoft is one of the largest contributors to the members of Congress who tried to subvert the Democratic process Microsoft has made NO COMMITMENTS to stop funding this group At a company meeting on Thursday, Prez Brad Smith explained why. And it's pretty appalling
Microsoft held an employee town hall today. I obtained a copy of Microsoft President Brad Smith's remarkably candid explanation of why Microsoft will continue to fund politicians whose conduct is completely at odds with the company's stated values https://notes.pinboard.in/... ht…
UPDATE: @Microsoft will announce by FEBRUARY 15 whether it will “suspend further donations to individuals who voted against certification of the Electoral College.” (All donations are suspended for now.) https://twitter.com/...
.@ProjectLincoln @Microsoft has sent a crystal clear message about the importance of democracy. I'm confident Microsoft will do the right thing with regard to support for 147 Members who voted to silence millions of black Americans by nullifying their votes. Brad Smith deserves h…
Microsoft has joined in halting PAC donations to Republicans who voted against certification. “The company believes that opposition to the Electoral College undermined American democracy and should have consequences.” https://blogs.microsoft.com/ ...
I wasn't politically savvy enough when I worked at Microsoft to understand how deeply embarrassing MSPAC was. I sure do now. I hope everyone who follows me and works there writes to your leadership about this, because come on. https://twitter.com/...
@RobertMaguire_ @JaneMayerNYer I'd read her fantastic article alongside this CNN story: Microsoft President Brad Smith explains *why* it's important for the corporations employees to donate to Microsoft's PAC. It is damning and shows how the system is rigged. https://www.cnbc.com…
Why hasn't @Microsoft stopped giving to members who voted against certifying the election? BRAD SMITH says members have told him: “Your folks have always shown up for me at my events. And we have a good relationship. Let me see what I can do to help you.” https://www.cnbc.com/...
Microsoft's President @bradsmith on how he buys access to politicians. It's almost refreshing to hear someone admit, in such plain spoke language, how money corrupts our political system. https://www.cnbc.com/... https://twitter.com/...
These comments from the Microsoft president are amazing — just a very honest and straightforward description of how the political system works in the US, that also sounds like explicit public corruption https://blogs.microsoft.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
More context in the full transcript, to include that 80 percent of all MSPAC funding went to members who voted to uphold electoral college. https://blogs.microsoft.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
.@ProjectLincoln will have an announcement forthcoming with regard to the public actions we intend to direct against @Microsoft in the public square. It will consist of a broadcast and digital advertising campaign. It will be aimed at the Microsoft CEO. @satyanadella and the http…
Here at Microsoft we'd like to point out *some* of our bribe money to politicians did NOT go overthrowing democracy. We deserve credit for that, right? Right‽ https://twitter.com/...
@SteveSchmidtSES @GOPLeader Please keep pressure on Microsoft for funding 147 white members of the GOP Congress who voted on January 6 to overturn democracy by attempting to throw out the votes of Black Americans in a fair election. #SeditionCaucus https://twitter.com/...
Folks, the U.S. has legalized bribery for politicians. It's just that simple. And it's horribly wrong. We need publicly financed elections and independent oversight of Congress. https://twitter.com/...
@Microsoft 2. In a transcript of the meeting leaked to CNBC, Smith said that @Microsoft needs to make contributions to politicians because sending these politicians money allows him to “pick up the phone” and get “help” https://www.cnbc.com/...
.@Microsoft would like you to know that JUST 20% of Microsoft PAC contributions went to members of Congress who were attempting to undermine democracy https://twitter.com/...
Microsoft's Brad Smith gave a frank explanation to employees for why its PAC donated to GOP politicians who tried to overthrow the election: They give money to get invited to events, to form relationships, so they can pick up the phone & ask for favors. https://www.cnbc.com/...
This is everything that's wrong with corporate donations, especially in tech. You cannot simultaneously post messages of support for issues like racial equality while giving actual money to people who stand firmly against it. https://twitter.com/...