Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Rep. Maxine Waters pledged to donate campaign contributions from Silicon Valley Bank’s PAC and former CEO Greg Becker, putting pressure on other politicians for them to do the same.
Becker and the SVB PAC have donated money to a slew of candidates — mostly Democrats — over the years, including President Joe Biden in his 2020 presidential bid and Silicon Valley-based Rep. Ro Khanna .
The bank’s political action committee has a wider variety of contributions, including giving $5,000 to California Rep. and now House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during the 2018 election cycle and $2,986 during the campaign. of 2014.
SVB, in crisis, where many startups held their funds, closed its doors on Friday after a run at the bank. Events led to a bailout over the weekend as the federal government took control of the assets.
The Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued a joint statement assuring SVB depositors that they would be able to withdraw their money.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) say they plan to return or donate to charitable funds they received as campaign contributions from the Political Action Committee of Silicon Valley Bank and its former CEO Greg Becker
SVB shut down last week and the FDIC and Fed took control of its assets over the weekend. The Biden administration insists the move was not a “bailout,” but some Republicans disagree. PicturedL People line up outside the Santa Clara site for SVB on Monday, March 13
A person familiar with the situation told CNBC that Schumer plans to send money donated by Becker in June 2021 to New York-based charities and organizations.
DailyMail.com has not heard from Schumer’s office to confirm the report and share additional information about the charities the leader plans to donate.
According to an Open Secrets review, Becker paid Schumer $5,800 for the 2022 midterm elections, which is the maximum allowed for individual contributions.
The leader’s campaign received $2,700 from SVB’s PAC in 2015 for the 2016 election cycle. A spokesperson for Schumer said his campaign also donated those funds to charity.
California Rep. Waters told Politico on Tuesday she would “return” the $2,500 she received from the bank’s PAC in late 2020 when she chaired the House Financial Services Committee.
Becker, who first joined SVB in 1993 as a banker, contributed $2,800 to Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign.
Beleaguered banks SVB, Signature Bank and Credit Suisse have disbursed a combined $1.2 million to Democratic candidates in the past three election cycles, fundraising data reveals.
During that same period, however, these three institutions gave only $750,000 to Republicans.
Becker and the SVB PAC have made donations to several candidates over the years – and while most individual contributions have gone to Democrats, Republicans have also received PAC contributions from the bank.
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry, a Republican from South Carolina, received contributions from the SVB PAC during the 2020, 2018 and 2016 election cycles.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy also received $5,000 in the 2018 election cycle and $2,986 in the 2014 PAC campaign.
The data reveals that the big three banks have spent heavily to ensure that their preferred candidates take office.
Beginning in 2016, the banks doled out tens of thousands of dollars to various successful senatorial campaigns, including Democratic Senate Leader Schumer, moderate West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, and Democratic Montana Sen. Jon Tester.
The tester reportedly chatted with a partner at SVB’s law firm Monday night at a posh fundraiser in Palo Alto, days after the bank collapsed.
Another big beneficiary of the three banks – two of which have collapsed and the third currently on the verge.
While most of Becker’s contributions during his tenure as CEO of SVB went to Democratic individuals and candidates, according to Open Secrets, he also gave $2,500 to the Republican Majority Committee PAC during the mid-election cycle. term of 2018.
Contributions were also made to Representative Khanna, whose district includes tech startup haven Silicon Valley.
California Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren received $500 from Becker in 2014 and an additional $1,000 in 2017. In the 2020 election cycle, SVB’s PAC contributed $1,000 to Lofgren’s re-election campaign.
Republican Representative Patrick McHenry of North Carolina received a $2,500 contribution from SVB PAC during the 2020, 2018 and 2016 cycles. It is likely that the PAC leaned on McHenry due to his position on the committee of the Chamber’s financial services. He had been the ranking member of the panel since 2019 and in 2023 was elevated to chairman when the GOP took control of the House.
Fellow GOP Reps Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio and French Hill of Arkansas both received $1,000 from the PAC in the 2020 cycle.
Silicon Valley-based rep Ro Khanna received funds from former CEO
In the 2022 election cycle, it appears the committee only paid out $2,500 in total to a single candidate – Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York.
It is not immediately clear whether any politicians, Democrats or Republicans, plan to join Schumer and Waters in donating SVB-related contributions.
The offices of McHenry and McCarthy did not immediately respond to a DailyMail.com request for comment on whether they would follow the lead of Democratic lawmakers or believe returning the funds could help stave off any perception that a bailout was made due to SVB’s support for key players in California and Washington, D.C.
Friday’s Silicon Valley Bank collapse was the biggest bank failure in U.S. history since the 2008 Great Recession and banking crisis.
The events caused the panic that resulted in the closure of New York’s Signature Bank over the weekend.
Regulators auctioned off SVB and customers were able to access their funds from Monday.
SVB was absorbed into the new Silicon Valley Bridge Bank, which is operated by the FDIC, which transferred all deposits from the bankrupt banking institution to the new “bridging bank” over the weekend.
The CEO of the new bank said the institution was “open for business” and on Tuesday urged customers to return.
