Medical manufacturers and bailout recipients play a powerful role in the US Chamber of Commerce, which has opposed a critical policy tool for COVID-19 response

Executive Summary

The Trump Administration has refused to make systematic use of the Defense Production Action to accelerate the delivery of needed medical supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) despite urgent calls from hospitals, healthcare workers, and workers in “essential jobs” to do so.

This policy decision has had a devastating impact on the health of low-wage Black and Latinx workers in particular, who are overrepresented in essential public, service, and agricultural sector jobs that put them at greater risk of exposure to COVID-19, and account for a significantly higher portion of fatalities from the disease.

While headlines have focused on sporadic jousting between the White House and some companies, the US Chamber of Commerce has played a powerful role in lobbying against deployment of this crucial policy tool. Many of the most powerful corporations that lead the Chamber have direct financial interests in how the COVID-19 response plays out. The companies – including medical manufacturers like 3M and Honeywell, major employers of frontline workers, and big banks – have the power and responsibility to reverse the Chamber’s lobbying agenda that prioritizes corporate control and profit over public health and well-being.

Summary of Recommendations

Corporations affiliated with the US Chamber of Commerce should swiftly and publicly support full and equitable invocation of the Defense Production Act to speed and coordinate the production of urgently needed PPE, tests, ventilators and other medical equipment, and pressure the Chamber to do the same.

Introduction

On April 4, 2020, President Trump stated during an address to the nation, “there will be a lot of death” from coronavirus, as the number of known cases in the U.S. surpassed 300,0001 and experts predicted that the country was still weeks away from seeing its COVID-19 death rate peak. With the U.S. facing a surge of critical patients, mayors and governors have been warning that lifesaving medical supplies will run out in a matter of days, and frontline workers have been pleading for the personal protective equipment (PPE), ventilators, and testing supplies needed to do their jobs safely.

Trump has repeatedly refused to take action to ensure that hospitals and frontline workers have these critical supplies. On March 18th, amid calls from doctors,2 nurses, hospitals,3 and elected officials,4 Trump signed an executive order activating the Defense Production Act (DPA), which would allow the federal government to centralize and oversee the production and distribution of critically-needed supplies to combat the coronavirus pandemic.5 Yet three weeks later, with hundreds of thousands of cases of COVID-19 around the country,6 Trump has thus far refused to use the full power of the DPA to coordinate an industry-wide response, opting instead to target specific companies with demands for increased production but without any apparent oversight or desperately needed federal coordination.7 A Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General report released in early April found that “hospitals reported that their most significant challenges centered on testing and caring for patients with known or suspected COVID-19 and keeping staff safe,” citing a lack of access to PPE, other equipment, and testing supplies among their concerns.8

Trump’s erratic approach to the use of the DPA avoids addressing fundamental underlying problems – unregulated distributors, limited supplies, and profit-driven markets – and leaves the door wide open for continued price gouging, profiteering, and competition between states.9

Recent reports suggest that the lack of a robust and coordinated federal response is continuing to have a devastating effect on the production and distribution of critically-needed supplies. The owner of a factory producing PPE describes the chaos in the current marketplace as “an air traffic control tower with no one in it.”10 According to a Washington Post article published on April 1st, “several reports in recent days have documented a Wild West-style online marketplace for bulk medical supplies dominated by intermediaries and hoarders who are selling N95 respirator masks and other gear at huge markups.”11 A recent investigation from ProPublica found that New York State has paid up to 15 times the normal prices for medical equipment.12 In an April 6th interview, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said that though the federal government was importing supplies, it was delivering them to private distributors instead of states, forcing states to then bid against each other and other bidders.13

These market failures could be addressed by use of the DPA and other coordination by the federal government.

Trump’s apparent reluctance to invoke the full force of the DPA to address the pandemic points to a little-known behind the scenes battle to maintain corporate dominance and control.

The US Chamber of Commerce has lobbied the Trump administration against the use of the DPA, which would constrain companies’ abilities to control their operations with an eye to profit maximization.14

In the face of a massive pandemic, with hundreds of thousands of lives on the line, the manufacturers of lifesaving healthcare equipment – including personal protective equipment (PPE) – continue to stand behind and hold major governance roles at the US Chamber of Commerce as it lobbies the Trump administration against taking necessary measures to ramp up supplies of this equipment.

3M and Honeywell, both leading manufacturers of N95 masks, have outsized influence at the Chamber and would be among the companies most significantly affected by the full invocation of the DPA with respect to PPE.

3M was recently embroiled in a public dispute with the Trump Administration15 and became the target of a one-off invocation of the DPA, prior to striking a deal to bring 166 million masks to the US.16 Throughout that saga, 3M had a powerful board seat at the Chamber as the Chamber lobbied against the use of DPA.

Chamber members also include ventilator manufacturers like GE that would be affected by the full invocation of the DPA. Similarly, major employers of workers on the frontlines of the crisis – workers who are facing enormous risks due to a lack of PPE supplies – continue to stand behind the Chamber as it works to block a robust, coordinated federal response.

This report reviews the Chamber’s response to this historic public health crisis, including lobbying against deployment of the Defense Production Act, shaping stimulus spending measures in a way that prioritizes corporate bailouts over public health, and promoting voluntary corporate actions as if they are an adequate replacement for coordinated federal action.

It also details how major corporations that have a uniquely important role to play in the response to the crisis, like 3M and Honeywell and major corporate beneficiaries of the $2 trillion dollar stimulus package, continue to hold leadership roles at the Chamber and oversee this reckless and short-sighted lobbying program.

As these powerful lobbyists and political figures jockey for profit, control, and publicity, frontline health providers – nurses, doctors, other healthcare workers – continue to work heroically despite lacking the supplies and equipment that they need to confront the crisis.

Chamber Lobbying Against Use of Defense Production Act

On March 22nd, The New York Times reported that the US Chamber of Commerce, the nation’s largest business advocacy organization, was actively lobbying the Trump administration and pressuring the federal government to refuse to invoke the full power of the DPA, which would give the government power to coordinate and oversee the private sector’s production and distribution of desperately-needed medical supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic.17

Despite calls from doctors, nurses, hospitals, organizations representing essential public, service, and agricultural sector workers, and elected officials to invoke the full power of the DPA in order to save lives, the Chamber argued that the move would restrict corporations’ flexibility to respond to the crisis and that big business would voluntarily step up to meet public demand anyway.18

Clearly swayed by the power of the Chamber and other corporate leaders, Trump has implied that the private sector’s voluntary production of medical supplies has rendered the invocation of the DPA unnecessary.19 So far, he has only invoked it to order GM and 3M to ramp up production and to order supplies from a handful of manufacturers, including Medtronic and General Electric,20 even though it is regularly used by the federal government for defense contracting purposes. According to the New York Times, the Department of Defense estimates that it uses the DPA’s powers 300,000 times per year.21 On March 24th, FEMA administrator Peter Gaynor said the DPA would be invoked to produce test kits, but then backed off.22

In response to questions about the corporate response to the DPA, Neil Bradley, the Chief Policy Officer for the Chamber, balked at the efficacy of the order:

“When the issue of DPA comes up, it’s a question of would that allow us to do something that we couldn’t otherwise do? Or [would it] help us meet the needs, at least with respect to increasing production itself? The answer is no.”23

The Chamber’s approach of prioritizing private sector control at the expense of public health is in line with how the group has been approaching the health crisis since its onset. In early March, the Chamber created a task force to assist member businesses that might be impacted by coronavirus. The press release announcing the task force’s creation, which includes a number of ways the Chamber might assist the business community and government with “fact-based planning,” fails to even use the word “health,” much less put forward an adequate response to the looming public health crisis.24

The Chamber then went to work on the stimulus package, pushing Congress to craft a bill focused on no-strings attached bailouts for big business25 without a mandate for worker benefits such as paid sick leave.26

The Chamber’s argument that the corporate community will voluntarily meet the needs of the public has not been borne out by reality. There continue to be massive PPE, ventilator, and testing shortfalls and a poorly-coordinated, scattershot approach that has states and healthcare systems competing against each other for scarce supplies.27 The shortages have also led to significant price-gouging.28

The Chamber is also facing increasing pushback. Leaders from four major unions, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and National Education Association (NEA) wrote to Chamber CEO Thomas Donohue, admonishing his organization’s profit-motivated efforts block the DPA:

“The idea that the Chamber would put bottom-line profits and adherence to some mistaken principle of capitalism ahead of the safety of American workers and the public at large is difficult to fathom.”29

A group of six Senators led by Senator Elizabeth Warren also sent the Chamber CEO a letter saying that the Chamber owes the public an explanation for their decision to place the “the short-term desires of its members above the economic and public health needs of hundreds of millions of American families.”30 The letter also calls on the Chamber to address key questions about its lobbying activities related to DPA.

This Refusal to Act Has a Devastating Impact on Black and Latinx Workers

Trump’s refusal to fully invoke the DPA is particularly deadly for workers of color–especially Black and Latinx workers–in low-wage public, service, and agricultural sector jobs that are deemed essential. In major cities across the country, Black and Latinx workers dominate essential jobs in public transit and transportation, public utilities, child care, healthcare, grocery and drug stores, delivery and postal services, warehouses, janitorial and cleaning services, and construction.31 Furthermore, Latinx workers account for the vast majority of farmworkers32 and meatpackers33 in the United States, and they play a critical role in ensuring most Americans are able to eat.

These workers of color cannot do their jobs from home, and the lack of safe and effective PPE in the era of COVID-19 makes their working conditions dangerous and even fatal. For example, hundreds of public transit workers across the country have tested positive for COVID-19, and in New York City alone, 50 of them had died of the disease as of April 13th.34 Even though their work puts them in close proximity to other people, making social distancing difficult if not impossible, they do not have reliable access to adequate PPE.35

As a result, Black people in particular account for an outsized portion of deaths from the virus in many places across the country. 70% of people who had died from COVID-19 in Chicago and 81% in Milwaukee County as of early April were Black, even though Black people account for less than a third of the population in both places.36 In Michigan, where Black people make up only 14% of the population,37 they account for 40% of COVID-19-related deaths.38 The Administration’s failure to ensure the production of enough PPE to keep all essential workers safe directly contributes to the significantly higher death rate in Black communities from the virus.

PPE Manufacturers are Key Leaders of the Chamber

Though the Chamber’s lobbying has received some attention and come under pressure from elected officials and union leaders, the power and self-interest of some of the companies with the greatest financial stake in the response to the COVID-19 epidemic deserves additional scrutiny.

The Chamber represents many businesses. Some tacitly support the group’s agenda through membership, while others hold leadership positions and are more involved in driving and shaping that agenda. While the Chamber claims its membership is made up of 3 million businesses of all sizes,39 its board is made up of about 110 executives primarily drawn from some of the country’s biggest and most powerful corporations.40

3M and Honeywell, two major producers of N95 masks, are both members of the Chamber’s board of directors, suggesting they have significant influence over the organization’s agenda and engagement with its advocacy program.41 Additionally, the Chamber’s headquarters in Washington, DC has a conference room named for 3M, suggesting that the corporation is a longtime major backer.42

Both companies have announced plans to ramp up production of N95 masks in response to the coronavirus crisis43 while at the same time remaining in leadership at an organization that is attempting to block federal coordination of the production and distribution of the masks and other life-saving equipment.

In recent weeks, tension between the Trump administration and 3M escalated into a public spat, with Trump eventually invoking the DPA before announcing a deal with 3M to bring 166.5 million masks to the US.44 The saga exposed the opposition of companies like 3M to federal coordination and DPA invocation and illustrated the power of the DPA – and the importance of applying it not just on a one-off basis for companies with which Trump is feuding, but more broadly and strategically.

The full invocation of the DPA to ramp up production and coordinate distribution of critical supplies like PPE would mean that more suppliers like 3M would yield some control of their operations to the government. Under the DPA, government orders have to be prioritized ahead of many other obligations and government requirements would need to be complied with, likely interfering with a profit-driven approach to managing the business.45 Voluntary private sector action – which has so far been wholly inadequate – would instead be compelled and coordinated by the government, and require a shift in focus away from maximizing short-term shareholder profit.

Though the 3M-Trump dispute brought 3M’s positions on these issues into public view, it is likely that companies like 3M and Honeywell – which would be among those most affected by DPA invocation and federal coordination – played some role in shaping the Chamber’s lobbying push against the DPA from behind the scenes before the dispute was in the news. In fact, 3M and Honeywell representatives on the Chamber board are uniquely well-positioned to understand the DPA, its consequences for the businesses they represent, and channels of corporate lobbying influence in Washington, given their backgrounds in supply chain management and lobbying:

Eric Hammes, 3M. Hammes, 3M’s representative on the Chamber board, is Executive Vice President of Enterprise Operations at 3M. His 3M bio describes this leadership role: “Enterprise Operations, consisting of manufacturing, supply chain and customer operations, plays a critical role in tailoring service and expertise to customer needs. Every day, Eric and his team are focused on optimizing the customer experience through end-to-end aligned and agile operations.” 46 All of Hammes’ current core responsibilities – management of manufacturing, supply chain, customer operations – are significantly affected by any invocation of the DPA with respect to 3M’s operations.

Hammes, 3M’s representative on the Chamber board, is Executive Vice President of Enterprise Operations at 3M. His 3M bio describes this leadership role: “Enterprise Operations, consisting of manufacturing, supply chain and customer operations, plays a critical role in tailoring service and expertise to customer needs. Every day, Eric and his team are focused on optimizing the customer experience through end-to-end aligned and agile operations.” All of Hammes’ current core responsibilities – management of manufacturing, supply chain, customer operations – are significantly affected by any invocation of the DPA with respect to 3M’s operations. James Carroll, Honeywell. Carroll is Senior Vice President of Government Relations at Honeywell and has sat on the Chamber board since 2016.47 According to a Honeywell press release announcing his promotion in 2017, he is “responsible for leading all global, federal, and state government relations activities and developing and executing Honeywell’s strategic global corporate, regulatory, and Government Relations strategies.”48Carroll oversees a lobbying operation that retained an external firm, the Duberstein Group, to conduct lobbying around the Defense Production Act on behalf of Honeywell in 2019.49 The Duberstein Group lobbyist engaged by Honeywell, David Schiappa, was previously a longtime top aide to Republican Senate leaders, including current Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.50 Most of Carroll’s political giving is through Honeywell’s PAC,51 though he did give a direct $5,000 contribution to Vice President Mike Pence’s Great America Committee in 2017.52

3M and Honeywell have other notable connections to the Trump administration and Chamber.

Brittany Masalosalo, head of international government affairs at 3M, was previously senior advisor for national security and foreign policy to Vice President Mike Pence.53 She had originally been hired by Vice President Joe Biden, but remained in the White House to work for Pence until 2018. Masalosalo has been deeply engaged in 3M’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, detailing the company’s response at a virtual forum convened by the Meridian International Center on March 25th.54 Masalosalo criticized foreign regulations that she says had hampered 3M’s response, including “mandated allocations” in China and export restrictions worldwide which she described as “quite burdensome.”55 These restrictions bear similarities to the Defense Production Act in that they increased government control over 3M’s production and distribution of N95 masks.

In 2018, while working for Pence, Masalosalo was “spotted” by Politico at the opening of 3M’s new “Innovation Center” on K Street.56 Chamber CEO Thomas Donohue was also in attendance, according to the report. Masalosalo is also on a list of attendees of the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s International Women’s Day conference in 2019.57

Honeywell CEO Darius Adamczyk appeared with President Trump at a March 30th press briefing, detailing his company’s voluntary efforts to increase N95 mask production.58

3M and Honeywell are mammoth publicly-traded corporations. In 2019 3M’s sales topped $32 billion and the company used $4.7 billion of their profits for stock buybacks and dividends to shareholders.59 3M CEO Michael Roman made $18,321,566 in base salary, performance pay, and stock awards and options while the average compensation for a full-time board member was $313,248 in cash and stock awards.60

In 2019, Honeywell had $36.7 billion in sales and spent nearly $7 billion on stock buybacks and dividends for shareholders.61 Honeywell CEO Darius Adamczyk made $18,912,915 in base salary, performance pay, and stock while the average full time board member made $309,322 in cash and stock awards and options.62

Corporate Interests Back Chamber as it Pushes to Block Use of DPA

A host of other companies are also continuing to back the Chamber as it blocks the use of the DPA to produce critically-needed medical supplies while pushing for massive, no-strings attached handouts to Wall Street and big business.63 These include other suppliers of critically-needed medical supplies, such as ventilators; major employers of frontline workers delivering essential goods and services who face tremendous risks and need PPE; and big banks and other beneficiaries of the massive corporate bailouts embedded in the stimulus package.

See the full map on LittleSis

Some of the corporations named below have representatives on the board of the Chamber, suggesting a deeper level of engagement in driving and shaping its agenda. Others named maintain affiliations, at least tacitly endorsing the Chamber’s lobbying program, and in many cases have worked in close partnership with the Chamber over the years.

Ventilator manufacturers: GE, Medtronic, Dyson. General Electric 64 is partnering with Ford to produce 50,000 ventilators by July, 65 but workers at the company are pushing leadership to do more by putting laid off aviation employees back to work making ventilators. 66 The DPA would grant Trump the authority to compel GE to manufacture more ventilators. Medtronic has argued against invocation of the DPA, though it has also argued for more central coordination. 67 Dyson 68 has announced it will be producing a new ventilator called the “CoVent,” which will help treat coronavirus patients.

General Electric is partnering with Ford to produce 50,000 ventilators by July, but workers at the company are pushing leadership to do more by putting laid off aviation employees back to work making ventilators. The DPA would grant Trump the authority to compel GE to manufacture more ventilators. Medtronic has argued against invocation of the DPA, though it has also argued for more central coordination. Dyson has announced it will be producing a new ventilator called the “CoVent,” which will help treat coronavirus patients. Major employers of frontline workers: FedEx, UPS, Amazon, Walmart, Target. Both FedEx and UPS, whose employees continue to make necessary deliveries without appropriate PPE, 69 are on the board of the Chamber. Amazon 70 warehouse workers are facing a crush of coronavirus-related orders, but CEO Jeff Bezos has done little to make sure his employees are protected. Warehouse workers recently organized walkouts, demanding the company provide paid time off for people who feel sick or need to self-quarantine, as well as protective gear and additional cleaning provisions for warehouses where workers test positive for the virus. After the strike, Amazon fired a worker-leader in New York, prompting an investigation by New York City mayor Bill DeBlasio. 71 Workers at Walmart 72 and Target 73 have also pressured their employers to ramp up safety protections during the pandemic, 74 prompting some changes. 75

Both FedEx and UPS, whose employees continue to make necessary deliveries without appropriate PPE, are on the board of the Chamber. Amazon warehouse workers are facing a crush of coronavirus-related orders, but CEO Jeff Bezos has done little to make sure his employees are protected. Warehouse workers recently organized walkouts, demanding the company provide paid time off for people who feel sick or need to self-quarantine, as well as protective gear and additional cleaning provisions for warehouses where workers test positive for the virus. After the strike, Amazon fired a worker-leader in New York, prompting an investigation by New York City mayor Bill DeBlasio. Workers at Walmart and Target have also pressured their employers to ramp up safety protections during the pandemic, prompting some changes. Big banks: US Bank, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, JPMorgan. 76 Big banks are among the major beneficiaries of bailout money delivered through Federal Reserve lending, employ many frontline workers at bank branches, have largely resisted calls for foreclosure moratoriums and debt relief, and are key players at the Chamber. While the federal government has refused to use all the tools at its disposal to provide health care providers and patients with the equipment they need, it has pumped an extraordinary $1.5 trillion into Wall Street. US Bank is currently represented on the Chamber’s board. While offering some additional support for its employees, it has not announced foreclosure moratorium or debt relief measures. 77

Big banks are among the major beneficiaries of bailout money delivered through Federal Reserve lending, employ many frontline workers at bank branches, have largely resisted calls for foreclosure moratoriums and debt relief, and are key players at the Chamber. While the federal government has refused to use all the tools at its disposal to provide health care providers and patients with the equipment they need, it has pumped an extraordinary $1.5 trillion into Wall Street. US Bank is currently represented on the Chamber’s board. While offering some additional support for its employees, it has not announced foreclosure moratorium or debt relief measures. Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals: Abbott Laboratories, Pfizer, Bayer. Abbott, Pfizer, and Bayer are all on the Chamber’s board. Abbott recently launched a rapid COVID-19 test. 78 Pfizer’s drug Prevnar 13 has seen a huge increase in sales due to the pandemic, because it is used to treat pneumonia, a side effect of COVID-19. 79 The company is also working to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. 80

Abbott, Pfizer, and Bayer are all on the Chamber’s board. Abbott recently launched a rapid COVID-19 test. Pfizer’s drug Prevnar 13 has seen a huge increase in sales due to the pandemic, because it is used to treat pneumonia, a side effect of COVID-19. The company is also working to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. Fossil fuels: Shell Oil, Phillips 66, Sempra Energy, Peabody Energy, ConocoPhillips, and Devon Energy. All of these companies are represented on the Chamber’s board of directors, giving the fossil fuel industry ample influence over its agenda. Over the last several weeks, the industry has been aggressively pursuing a bailout from the Trump Administration, prioritizing its own profits at a time when consistent financial assistance for individuals and families is sorely needed.81 As a major presence on the Chamber’s board, these companies, members of the primary industry driving the climate crisis,82 are standing behind an agenda that threatens public health.

The above is a cursory overview of the kinds of corporations that continue to stand behind the Chamber and its reckless, short-sighted push for policies that prioritize corporate control and profit over critically-needed medical supplies and other life-saving measures.

Recommendations

Many different stakeholders have a role to play in pressuring Trump to provide life-saving equipment in the midst of the pandemic by using the full power of the DPA. Using the full power of the DPA would mean not only compelling individual companies to ramp up production of equipment (as Trump is doing now, with little to no oversight and accountability), but also empowering one federal agency to serve as a central hub for the coronavirus industrial response and allowing the federal government to coordinate equipment production across entire sectors and up and down supply chains.83

During this crisis the needs of essential workers and the communities hardest hit by the pandemic must drive public policy and come ahead of any corporation’s ideological or financial interests.

We recommend:

As AFSCME, AFT, NEA, and SEIU have called for, the US Chamber of Commerce should call on President Trump “to exercise all his powers to address the COVID-19 crisis by speeding the production of urgently needed PPE and ensure it is routed to states for distribution across healthcare and other front-line industries.” 84

Any corporation affiliated with or on the board of the US Chamber of Commerce 85 should swiftly and publicly support full invocation of the DPA. These corporations should pressure the Chamber to do the same. If the Chamber refuses, these corporations should cut all ties with the Chamber.

should swiftly and publicly support full invocation of the DPA. These corporations should pressure the Chamber to do the same. If the Chamber refuses, these corporations should cut all ties with the Chamber. Institutional investors, such as public pension funds, should require companies affiliated with or on the board of the US Chamber of Commerce to disclose what steps they are taking to ensure the health and safety of workers and the public during the coronavirus pandemic, and urge them to support full invocation of the DPA.

Members of Congress should do everything in their power to pressure Trump to use the full powers of the DPA.

Local elected officials should call on their regional chambers of commerce to publicly support full invocation of the DPA and pressure the US Chamber of Commerce to stop blocking full invocation of the DPA.

Across these recommendations, calls for adequate production and distribution of PPE should prioritize the needs of communities of color that are getting hardest hit by the pandemic, and the needs of frontline workers in essential industries who are disproportionately people of color.

Appendix: US Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors

As listed on the US Chamber website.77

Board Member Corporation Andrew Abboud Las Vegas Sands Corp Robert O. Agbede Hatch USA Mark Allen FedEx Lee R. Anderson, Sr. APi Group, Inc. Dennis Arriola Sempra Energy Richard H. Bagger Christie 55 Solutions, LLC Arnold Baker BRM Concrete Gene Barr Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry Hector V. Barreto The Latino Coalition Kathy G. Beckett Steptoe & Johnson John F. Biagas Bay Electric Co., Inc. Jim Brady Grant Thornton Kelly Brough Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce Michelle H. Browdy International Business Machines James Carroll Honeywell Douglas Cifu Virtu Financial Chris Clark Georgia Chamber of Commerce Ken W. Cole Cactus Consulting LLC Joseph W. Craft III Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. Bruce Culpepper Shell Oil Company Ralph de la Torre Steward Health Care System LLC Mitchell Delk AECOM Brackett Denniston III Goodwin Procter LLP Maura W. Donahue DonahueFavret Contractors Michael L. Ducker FedEx Freight Shawn Fagan Citadel LLC Terri Fariello United Airlines Robert D. Fatovic Ryder System, Inc. Sean Finn Canadian National Railway Michael Flannigan Peabody Energy Lisa Flavin Emerson Electric Company Wayne A. I. Frederick, M.D., MBA, F.A.C.S. Howard University Lance M. Fritz Union Pacific Corporation Robert “Bob” Funck Abbott Laboratories John E. Gallina Anthem H.P. Goldfield Hogan Lovells US LLP Bruce Grewcock Kiewit Corporation Glenn Hamer Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry Eric Hammes 3M John L. Hopkins NuScale Power LLC David Jacobson BMO Financial Group Elliot J. Jaffee U.S. Bank J.J. Johnson Fidelity Investments Paula Johnson Phillips 66 Stephen Johnson American Airlines Robert Jones Pfizer, Inc. Jan Jones Blackhurst Caesars Entertainment Corporation Fred Kaiser Alpha Technologies, Inc. Raymond F. Kerins, Jr. Bayer Corporation Larry Kidd RSS Staffing Steve Kirby Bluestem Capital Paul Klaassen Sunrise Senior Living, Inc. Jessie J. Knight, Jr. Knight Angels Robert Kramer Emergent BioSolutions Laura Lane United Parcel Service Greg Lebedev The Robertson Foundation William G. Little Quam-Nichols Company, Inc. Tamara L. Lundgren Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc. Andrew D. Lundquist ConocoPhillips Phillip May Entergy Louisiana, LLC Edward McCoy Eaheart Industrial Service Inc. James W. Mendenhall PAECO, Inc. Sherry Menor-McNamara Chamber of Commerce Hawaii Rance C. Miles Select Milk Producers, Inc. George Nichols III American College of Financial Services C. Howard Nye Martin Marietta Materials Brian O’Hara Front Street Advisors Karen M. Olson Beenken Blue Rock Companies Louis (Louie) Pastor Xerox Corporation Matthew K. Rose BNSF Railway Company Mark Rourke Schneider National, Inc. John Ruan III BTC Financial Corporation/Ruan, Incorporated Edward B. Rust, Jr. State Farm Insurance Companies Susan Sachatello CUNA Mutual Group James Schenck PenFed Credit Union Tracy G. Schmidt Gordon Food Service Gerald L. Shaheen FORD Motor Company Matthew Shay National Retail Federation Eric Silagy Florida Power & Light Company Dr. Rajendra Singh Telcom Ventures, LLC Christel Slaughter, Ph.D. SSA Consultants Charles R. Stamp, Jr. Deere & Company John Stephens AT&T Frank C. Sullivan RPM International Inc. The Honorable David Thorne Adviser Investments, Inc. Maxine Turner Cuisine Unlimited Catering & Special Events Joseph B. Ucuzoglu Deloitte Steve Van Andel Amway Frank L. VanderSloot Melaleuca, Inc. Todd Walker Altria Raymond Wagner Enterprise Holdings Mark E. Watson III Argo Group International Holdings Limited Amy Wilson Dow, Inc. Mark Wilson Chime Solutions Thomas J. Wilson Allstate Insurance Company Heather Wingate Delta Airlines Christopher C. Womack Southern Company Allen Wright Devon Energy Elanna S. Yalow, Ph.D., M.B.A. KinderCare Education Michael A. Zarcone MetLife

Endnotes

1 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/donald-trump-warns-there-will-be-lot-death-u-s-n1177061/

2 https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/489976-utilizing-the-defense-production-act-will-save-health-care-workers-lives/

3 https://www.aha.org/lettercomment/2020-03-21-aha-ama-and-ana-letter-president-use-dpa-medical-supplies-and-equipment/

4 https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/489105-trump-faces-mounting-pressure-to-unleash-defense-production-act/

5 https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/27/trump-slams-gm-over-ventilator-production-delays-costs-151885/

6 https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/coronavirus-pandemic-04-03-20-intl/index.html/

7 https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/02/white-house-general-motors-defense-production-act-161833/

8 https://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-06-20-00300.pdf?smid=nytcore-ios-share/

9 https://theintercept.com/2020/04/01/coronavirus-3m-n95-masks-price-gouging//

10 https://www.businessinsider.com/maine-factory-pivots-to-ppe-but-marketplace-is-a-mess-2020-4?utm_source=notification&utm_medium=referral/

11 https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/coronavirus-protective-gear-stockpile-depleted/2020/04/01/44d6592a-741f-11ea-ae50-7148009252e3_story.html/

12 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/new-york-medical-equipment-payments_n_5e863fd7c5b6d302366cf992?fbclid=IwAR0qsXTQ_xoLEVsJt3qJ4nsrTgjWHK8taPDOBtX6g7kx-ygl5K2VShDPUEM/

13 https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/pritzker-federal-government-has-delivered-less-than-10-percent-of-ppe-illinois-requested/

14 https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/defense-production-act-amid-coronavirus-president-trump-resists/story?id=69789412/

15 https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/06/coronavirus-trump-and-3m-strike-deal-to-bring-55point5-million-masks-a-month-to-us.html/

16 https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/06/coronavirus-trump-and-3m-strike-deal-to-bring-55point5-million-masks-a-month-to-us.html/

17 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/22/us/politics/coronavirus-trump-defense-production-act.html/

18 https://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/business-a-lobbying/489948-trump-bucks-business-on-defense-production-act/

19 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-26/trump-shuns-war-powers-to-ramp-up-virus-supplies-after-lobbying/

20 https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/03/trump-dpa-medical-goods-164036/

21 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/31/us/politics/coronavirus-defense-production-act.html/

22 https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/24/trump-administration-defense-production-act-146070/

23 https://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/business-a-lobbying/489948-trump-bucks-business-on-defense-production-act/

24 https://www.uschamber.com/press-release/us-chamber-creates-task-forces-help-businesses-mitigate-impact-of-coronavirus-and/

25 https://www.uschamber.com/letters-congress/letter-us-government-leaders-coronavirus-response/

26 https://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/business-a-lobbying/487306-chamber-of-commerce-calls-for-coronavirus-relief/

27 https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/03/27/coronavirus-states-battle-each-other-critical-medical-gear/2931578001//

28 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/27/us/coronavirus-price-gouging-hand-sanitizer-masks-wipes.html/

29 https://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/business-a-lobbying/490060-unions-urge-chamber-of-commerce-to-stop-lobbying/

30 https://www.warren.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2020.03.23%20Letter%20to%20Chamber%20of%20Commerce%20re%20Lobbying%20against%20DPA.pdf/

31 https://www.marketplace.org/2020/04/08/covid-19-is-not-the-great-equalizer-its-hitting-black-communities-hardest/;/

https://www.aclum.org/en/publications/data-show-covid-19-hitting-essential-workers-and-people-color-hardest;

https://whyy.org/articles/essential-and-unsafe-frontline-workers-of-color-face-compounded-risks/;

https://chicago.suntimes.com/coronavirus/2020/4/9/21212043/coronavirus-covid-19-racial-disparity-black-latino-workers-work-from-home

32 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-essential-workers-undocumented-farmworkers-not-eligible-for-aid//

33 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2018/04/11/the-price-of-cheap-meat-raided-slaughterhouses-and-upended-communities//

34 https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2020/04/coronavirus-transit-workers-strike-risk-subway-bus-drivers/609328//

35 https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2020/04/coronavirus-transit-workers-strike-risk-subway-bus-drivers/609328//

36 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/african-americans-may-be-dying-covid-19-higher-rate-better-n1178011 /

37 https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/MI/

38 https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/04/02/michigan-coronavirus-by-race-deaths-african-americans-tests-covid-19/5116025002//

39 https://www.uschamber.com/about/about-the-us-chamber-of-commerce/

40 https://www.uschamber.com/about/board-of-directors/

41 https://www.uschamber.com/about/board-of-directors/

42 https://publicintegrity.org/politics/u-s-chamber-doubling-down-on-political-juggernaut//

43 https://www.honeywell.com/en-us/newsroom/pressreleases/2020/03/honeywell-further-expands-n95-face-mask-production-by-adding-manufacturing-capabilities-in-phoenix and https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-03-25/3m-doubled-production-of-n95-face-masks-to-fight-coronavirus

44 https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/06/politics/trump-3m-defense-production-act-masks/index.html/

45 https://www.law.com/corpcounsel/2020/03/20/whats-next-for-general-counsel-at-medical-suppliers-as-trump-invokes-defense-production-act-executive-order//

46 https://investors.3m.com/governance/board-of-directors/person-details/default.aspx?ItemId=9ece0df7-1bb2-43ec-a69e-4c06727acfed/

47 https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/530045720/01_2018_prefixes_52-54%2F530045720_201612_990O_2018011715130794/

48 https://www.honeywell.com/en-us/newsroom/pressreleases/2017/02/honeywell-names-jim-carroll-as-senior-vice-president-global-government-relations/

49 https://soprweb.senate.gov/index.cfm?event=getFilingDetails&filingID=2B7E1614-470B-4794-9F32-AD524189C138&filingTypeID=78/

50 https://www.rollcall.com/2013/07/30/schiappa-out-dove-in-as-senate-gops-key-floor-staffer//

51 https://investor.honeywell.com/Cache/IRCache/1fe74955-57db-3545-f48f-acf5b65d2a28.PDF?O=PDF&T=&Y=&D=&FID=1fe74955-57db-3545-f48f-acf5b65d2a28&iid=4121346/

52 https://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/fecimg/?201801319091115082/

53 https://executiveinstitute.fiscalnote.com/advisory-board/brittany-masalosalo-2//

54 https://www.meridian.org/project/after-this-is-over-lets-prepare-for-the-next-one-global-leaders-respond-to-covid-19//

55 See presentation beginning at 53:39: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uYLswcX54w&feature=youtu.be/

56 https://www.politico.com/newsletters/politico-influence/2018/02/28/how-to-help-your-boss-survive-an-investigation-118954/

57 https://www.uschamberfoundation.org/sites/default/files/media-uploads/2019%20IWD%20Final%20Attendees.pdf/

58 https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-members-coronavirus-task-force-press-briefing//

59 https://investors.3m.com/news/news-details/2020/3M-Reports-Fourth-Quarter-and-Full-Year-2019-Results-Implements-New-Global-Operating-Model-and-Streamlined-Structure-Provides-Full-Year-2020-Guidance/default.aspx/

60 https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/66740/000120677420000907/mmm3661701-def14a.htm/

61 http://investor.honeywell.com/Cache/IRCache/0eb89bce-f02c-8ee5-15d8-c35e1c02c6cf.PDF?O=PDF&T=&Y=&D=&FID=0eb89bce-f02c-8ee5-15d8-c35e1c02c6cf&iid=4121346/

62 https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/773840/000119312520070931/d836977ddef14a.htm#tx836977_10/

63 https://www.uschamber.com/letters-congress/letter-us-government-leaders-coronavirus-response/

64 General Electric is not on the Chamber’s board but its response is highlighted on the Chamber’s website: https://www.uschamberfoundation.org/aid-event/coronavirus-covid-19/general-electric-coronavirus-covid-19-response/

65 https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/03/30/ford-ge-ventilator-coronavirus-partnership//

66 https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/30/ge-workers-plan-to-protest-at-two-facilities-after-coronavirus-layoffs.html/

67 Medtronic is not on the Chamber’s board but its response is highlighted on the Chamber’s website: https://www.uschamberfoundation.org/aid-event/coronavirus-covid-19/medtronic-coronavirus-covid-19-response/

https://www.startribune.com/medtronic-other-medtech-firms-fear-parts-shortage-if-trump-invokes-wartime-production-law/569285812/

https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-must-contend-in-chaotic-global-market-for-crucial-ventilators/569258242/

68 Dyson is not on the Chamber’s board but its response is highlighted on the Chamber’s website: https://www.uschamberfoundation.org/aid-event/coronavirus-covid-19/dyson-coronavirus-covid-19-response/

69 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/21/business/coronavirus-ups-fedex-xpo-workers.html/

70 Amazon is not on the Chamber’s board but its response is highlighted on the Chamber’s website.

71 https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/03/30/worker-strike-instacart-amazon-whole-foods//

72 Walmart is not on the Chamber’s board, but its response is highlighted on the Chamber’s website.

73 Target is not on the board of the Chamber, but is a member: https://corporate.target.com/_media/TargetCorp/csr/pdf/Target_Trade_Association_Support_2018_YE.pdf/

74 https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/mar/22/target-walmart-coronavirus-workers-not-protected/

75 https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/19/walmart-announces-special-cash-bonuses-for-hourly-associates-during-national-health-crisis.html and https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/03/31/824597997/walmart-to-start-checking-workers-temperatures/

76 Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and JPMorgan are not on the board of the Chamber, but their responses are highlighted on the Chamber’s website – see pages for JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America.

77 https://ir.usbank.com/news-releases/news-release-details/us-bank-announces-20-premium-pay-program-employees-and-30m/

78 https://time.com/5812664/5-minute-coronavirus-test//

79 https://www.investors.com/news/technology/coronavirus-vaccine-why-pfizer-drug-benefits-covid-19//

[80]https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer_and_biontech_to_co_develop_potential_covid_19_vaccine

81 PAI has written about his previously: https://news.littlesis.org/2020/04/02/the-covid-19-fossil-fuel-industry-bailout-how-to-fight-it/

82 https://time.com/5766188/shell-oil-companies-fossil-fuels-climate-change//

83 https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/02/white-house-general-motors-defense-production-act-161833/

84 https://www.afscme.org/press/releases/2020/afscme-aft-nea-seiu-letter-condemns-u-s-chamber-of-commerce-for-lobbying-against-defense-production-act/

85 See Appendix 1.

86 https://www.uschamber.com/about/board-of-directors/