The Chamber of Commerce Tried to Find a Middle Ground. It Ended Up Pissing Off Both Parties.
These should be good times for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The nation’s largest business lobby has long had disagreements with President Donald Trump along with ideological affinity with Republicans in the Senate. The 2020 election results aren’t final. But all signs point to the type of outcome that should have them content: divided government, with Joe Biden in the White House and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-K.Y.) running the upper chamber.
And yet, the chamber finds itself at, perhaps, the most precarious political position ever. The group angered its long-standing allies on the right by endorsing a number of House Democrats during the 2020 cycle. And while most of the Democratic incumbents the group backed look to be headed for re-election, party leadership say they feel no allegiance or gratitude to the chamber for what they’re describing as surface-level support.
Republicans, by contrast, didn’t see that support as perfunctory at all. They viewed the chamber’s actions this cycle as an act of treachery.