Two top Democrats, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and Rep. Maxine Waters of California, have returned or pledged to donate their campaign contributions following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank into insolvency.
The bank's political action committee and its CEO, Greg Becker, have donated to several candidates over the years, mostly Democrats. The SVB PAC has a wider range of contributions, including giving $5,000 to the current House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in the 2018 election cycle and $2,986 in the 2014 campaign. Following SVB's insolvency and the federal government's takeover of its assets, Schumer and Waters announced their decision to return or donate the funds received from Becker and the SVB PAC to charity.
While the Daily Mail has reported that Schumer plans to donate the funds to New York-based charities and organizations, his office has not confirmed the report.
According to Open Secrets, Becker gave Schumer $5,800 for the 2022 midterm elections, which is the maximum allowed amount for individual contributions. Schumer's campaign received $2,700 from SVB's PAC in 2015 for the 2016 election cycle, and his spokesperson said that his campaign would also donate those funds to charity. On Tuesday, Waters told Politico that "yes" she "will send" back the $2,500 she received from SVB's PAC in late 2020 while chairing the House Financial Services Committee.
SVB's collapse has led to questions about the large sums of money donated by the bank and other financial institutions to political campaigns, which critics allege give the banks undue influence over lawmakers. Over the past three election cycles, SVB, Signature Bank, and Credit Suisse have donated $1.2 million combined to Democratic candidates, while giving only $750,000 to Republicans. Data shows that all three banks spent heavily to ensure their preferred candidates took office.
Beginning in 2016, the banks doled out tens of thousands of dollars to various successful Senate campaigns, including those of Schumer, moderate Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont. Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., got $2,500 contributions from SVB PAC in the 2020, 2018, and 2016 cycles, the Mail reported.
The collapse of SVB has triggered concerns about the safety of funds held by the bank and the implications of its insolvency for the wider economy. The Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation have issued a joint statement, alongside the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury guaranteeing SVB depositors would be able to withdraw their money. The Biden administration has said the move was not a bailout, despite criticisms from some Republicans.
Former FDIC chair Sheila Bair told Fox News on Monday that SVB did indeed receive a "bailout."
"Well, it is a bailout. Different people define 'bailouts' in different ways," she said. "We have a set of rules; we give a lot of support to banks. Deposit insurance is one of the things we let banks have. They pay a premium for it; it's capped at $250,000. If we change those rules for a couple of banks and then give them more coverage than anybody else gets or they were entitled to under the law, I think that's a bailout."
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