Ways and Means chair probes Chamber of Commerce Foundation donations

House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.) sent a second letter Monday to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation amid its investigation into donations from a left-leaning nonprofit, the Tides Foundation.

Smith sent his first letter in May probing millions of dollars in donations the Foundation has received from the Tides Foundation, a donor-advised fund that allows individuals or companies to give them money then direct them as grants to other nonprofits.

The investigation marked a massive shift in the historically close alignment between the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Republicans. The committee has more broadly flexed its oversight authority over the tax-exempt sector since Smith took over at the start of the 118th Congress, and is slated to hold a hearing Tuesday morning “tracing the flow of tax-exempt dollars to antisemitism.”

“As previously mentioned, we are concerned about the links between the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation (USCCF) and the Tides Foundation,” Smith wrote in his Monday letter to Michael Carney, who took over as president of the foundation after Carolyn Cawley stepped down in May.

“In addition to the Tides Foundation’s support of organizations that advocate for policies that would harm the American business community, the Tides Foundation has also been at the center of antisemitic incidents that have taken place across college campuses since Hamas’ attacks against Israel on October 7, 2023.”

The letter points to reporting from the conservative-leaning magazine Tablet that found organizations involved in campus protests against the war in Gaza had previously received grants through the Tides Foundation.

House Republicans have decried the largely peaceful protests as antisemitic and grilled university leaders for their failure to rein in “rising antisemitism on college campuses,” as Smith writes in the letter.

“Given the links the Tides Foundation has to rising antisemitism on college campuses, the Committee is concerned about why such an organization would help facilitate donations to the USCCF through its Donor Advised Funds (DAF) and why the USCCF would be willing to accept donations through that organization,” Smith said.

The Foundation did not immediately return The Hill’s request for comment.

The Tides Foundation gave more than $12 million to the Foundation between 2018 and 2022 for purposes including “economic development,” “project support” and “equality, human rights and economic empowerment,” according to tax records first reported by the right-wing outlet Breitbart News.

Breitbart accused the Chamber of turning to “to Soros-Funded groups and Democrats to keep dwindling operations alive,” noting the nonprofit had received funding in the past from another left-leaning nonprofit, Open Society Foundations. Open Society Foundations was founded by billionaire Democratic megadonor George Soros, himself a frequent target of antisemitic attacks, conspiracy theories and the political right. 

But federal disclosure laws make it virtually impossible to trace money from an individual donor to a grant through a donor-advised fund, especially one like the Tides Foundation that raises and distributes hundreds of millions of dollars each year.

The Foundation pushed back on the Ways and Mean inquiry and the Breitbart report upon which it is based, stating in its response letter that “certain corporations and corporate foundations have donated to the USCCF” through Tides.

It also pointed out other “well-respected” nonprofits including Goodwill, the Red Cross and Make-a-Wish Foundation have received funding through the Tides Foundation.

Still, Smith is seeking more answers on the Foundation’s “due diligence process” for donations, standards for declining donations and history of returning or declining donations “based on concerns over the views, beliefs, or public pronouncements of an individual or entity making a donation.”

“Although you acknowledged in your response that the Tides Foundation makes gifts to organizations through its DAF ‘that are not aligned with the Chamber and for activities which the Chamber would oppose,’ it calls into question whether the USCCF was previously aware of the Tides Foundation’s partners prior to accepting contributions through their DAF,” Smith wrote.

“It also raises questions regarding whether there is any donation the USCCF would ever decline,” he added.