Google suspends donations to lawmakers who voted against certifying election

Google late Monday announced that its political action committee will not make donations this election cycle to members of Congress who voted against certifying the 2020 presidential election results. 

The decision comes after the tech giant implemented an internal review on its political contributions following the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, which was spurred by unsupported claims from former President Trump and his allies that the 2020 election was rigged in favor of President Biden. 

“Following that review, the NetPAC board has decided that it will not be making any contributions this cycle to any member of Congress who voted against certification of the election results,” Google spokesperson José Castañeda told The Hill. 

This comes after Facebook announced earlier this month following the Capitol riot that it would be suspending its political contributions for the first quarter of 2021, and Microsoft said Sunday it was halting political donations while reviewing whether to further suspend contributions to lawmakers who voted against election certification. 

Microsoft said in a public statement it will announce its final decision about a suspension of donations by Feb. 15 after completing discussions with employees. 

Other companies such as Amazon, AT&T and Comcast have also threatened to halt donations following the pro-Trump riot, in which five people died amid the chaos, including a Capitol Police officer who sustained injuries while responding to the rioting and a woman shot by a plainclothes officer. 

Following the riot, which occurred as Congress met to certify Biden’s electoral win, several Republican lawmakers moved forward with voting in favor of rejecting a slate of electors for Biden from Pennsylvania and Arizona over unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud that would have altered the outcome of the election. 

Some of the biggest supporters of the election challenges, including GOP Sens. Josh Hawley (Mo.) and Ted Cruz (Texas), have faced calls to resign or be removed from office over claims that their continued efforts to subvert election results prompted the violent Jan. 6 attack. 

Google’s decision to suspend donations came the same day workers announced the formation of a new global union alliance in an effort to hold the tech giant accountable. Alpha Global, named in recognition of Google parent company Alphabet, includes members from 10 countries, including the U.S., Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and the United Kingdom

It follows growing labor pressure on the tech giant and was unveiled just weeks after more than 200 Google employees in the U.S. announced the creation of the Alphabet Workers Union, which has since grown to more than 700 members.

Chris Mills Rodrigo contributed to this report 

Updated at 9:59 a.m.