The business backlash to the attack on Congress has gotten louder with a group of 81 institutional investors representing $1.69 trillion urging CEO members of the Business Roundtable to halt political donation for at least six months or until such time as a thorough risk assessment can be undertaken.

The investors, primarily members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), also called on companies to consider implementing more permanent steps to end all political spending, including through direct donations to politicians, political action committees (PACS), super PACs and 527 committees, or anonymously through trade associations and “social welfare” organizations, also known as 501(c)(4) groups.

The statement said that many companies and investors appealed to former President Donald Trump to respect the people’s will and ensure a peaceful transfer of power after the election, but he instead encouraged a mob that violently attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. “Five people died, and our nation is certain to remember the attack as one of the darkest days of our Republic,” the statement said.

The statement noted that, after the attack, many companies announced that they were temporarily withdrawing their financial support for the legislators. Others, mainly banks and tech companies such as Amazon, Microsoft and Google, announced they were suspending all political spending, pending a more comprehensive review.

Among the financial services companies suspending political giving are Charles Schwab, BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, and the American Investment Council, a trade group, which represents the private equity industry.

While the investors called these suspensions and reviews good first steps, they said there needs to be bolder action because it remains unclear as to what companies will do after the suspensions expire in a few months.

“We believe this is a moment of reckoning for corporations. They should thoughtfully reconsider how their political activities have been reinforcing and undermining the ideals of democracy, and the fulfillment of their social contract,” the statement said.

The investors further stated, “We would ask how companies are measuring and mitigating any deleterious impacts that their political donations may have on people and on the planet. And we would ask companies to reflect on how our current campaign finance system—an elaborate system of 'donations,' mainly undertaken by corporations to curry favor with policy-makers—may undermine authentic democracy and civic engagement and have a corrupting influence on elected officials."

The investors request that companies strongly consider the following:

• Ending all political spending at the federal, state, and local levels;
• Shutting down corporate PACs;
• Ending all contributions to super PACs;
• Ending contributions to partisan state-focused 527 committees;
• Ending the flow of corporate “dark money” to so-called “nonprofit” groups;
• Fully disclosing how much and to which intermediaries they contribute, including trade associations and other third-party groups that use that money to influence policy.

ICCR is a coalition of investors representing more than $2 trillion in assets under management that engages companies on environmental, social, and governance issues. Its 300-member organizations comprise faith communities, socially responsible asset managers, unions, pensions, NGOs and other socially responsible investors.