The Daily 202: The U.S. Chamber wants to disentangle its brand from the GOP and hopes to rebuild the

Source: Washington Post

THE BIG IDEA: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, navigating dramatic cultural change that’s transforming the worlds of politics and business, plans to become less aligned with the Republican Party than it has been for decades.

The largest and most powerful corporate lobbying group in Washington is changing the way it evaluates lawmakers for the first time in 40 years, launching a $250 million capital campaign to remodel its headquarters and even rethinking its approach to regulation.

Several dues-paying companies have balked as the Chamber endorsed fewer and fewer Democrats over the past several election cycles. The GOP’s drift toward protectionism, nativism and isolationism since Donald Trump took over the party in 2016 is also at odds with the Chamber’s longtime support for expanding free trade, growing legal immigration and investing in infrastructure.

The Chamber’s major strategic shift, outlined here for the first time based on a series of exclusive interviews with its leaders, grew out of more than two years of intensive conversations. The deliberations began in earnest shortly after Trump became president but long before the Democratic takeover of the House in the midterms ushered in divided government.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2019/04/25/daily-202-the-u-s-chamber-wants-to-disentangle-its-brand-from-the-gop-and-hopes-to-rebuild-the-center/5cc08e551ad2e52459e24671/?utm_term=.71c3da8f9af4&wpisrc=nl_daily202&wpmm=1

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Donald Trump = "bad for business"?