Tom Donohue’s Chamber of Horrors
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Chamber of Commerce reportedly is close to naming Thomas Donohue’s successor, and is expected to appoint Suzanne Clark as its next leader. Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, released the following statement.
“Tom Donohue issued a statement on Jan. 6, condemning the insurrection, but in many ways it was the product of decades of investments by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Under Donohue, the Chamber became hyper-partisan, made peace with extremist strands of the Republican Party so long as they promised tax cuts and deregulation, and drove the anti-science, climate denialism that helped pave the way for the generalized truth-denying of Donald Trump and the Jan. 6 insurrection.
“The work of the Chamber under Donohue degraded our democracy, our economy, and our planet. Donohue’s Chamber ardently advocated for the views of some large corporations, at the expense of the well-being of the economy and the small businesses that the Chamber claims to represent. The legacy for which Donohue can claim some credit includes massive wealth and corporate concentration, an unequal economy, and a planet careening toward climate catastrophe.
“Happily, and no thanks to him, the work is now underway to repair the damage inflicted by the Chamber and Donohue: to end Big Money dominance of our elections, to break up concentrated corporate power, to restore worker and consumer rights, and to save the world from the most catastrophic climate scenarios.”