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The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation’s biggest business lobby, is encountering challenges on multiple fronts as it seeks warmer relations with Democrats after years of lockstep loyalty to Republicans - a strategic shift that is souring relations with some GOP allies on Capitol Hill and alarming some members and state affiliates. The blowback from Republicans threatens to further upend the Chamber’s longtime status as the most potent corporate lobby in Washington, just as the Biden administration pushes a sweeping agenda that includes significant tax hikes on big businesses and a raft of new regulations. And it comes amid a broader rift between corporate leaders, who have become more outspoken advocates of some progressive causes, and a Republican Party that increasingly sees political advantage in attacking business executives.
A multi-year plan by the Chamber of Commerce to broaden its political standing has angered some long-time members and allies, part of a broader shift for the business lobby.
McCarthy Cues Up New Performance of Fealty to Trump US President Donald Trump, flanked by US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (L), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (C) and Vice President Mike Pence, speaks before signing the CARES act, a $2 trillion rescue p. US President Donald Trump, flanked by US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (L), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (C) and Vice President Mike Pence, speaks before signing the CARES act, a $2 trillion rescue package to provide economic relief amid the coronavirus outbreak, at the Oval Office of the White House on March 27, 2020. - After clearing the Senate earlier this week, and as the United States became the new global epicenter of the pandemic with 92,000 confirmed cases of infection, Republicans and Democrats united to greenlight the nation s largest-ever economic relief plan. (Photo by JIM WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WAT
Published: Monday, May 17, 2021
Colonial pipeline tanks, President Biden, Transportation Security Administration badge. Credits: Drew Angerer/Getty Images (Colonial pipeline tanks); T.J. Kirkpatrick-Pool/Getty Images (Biden); Joe Raedle/Getty Images (badge)
A cyberattack on the Colonial pipeline last week is raising numerous questions about whether the Biden administration and industry are protecting the nation s energy infrastructure. Drew Angerer/Getty Images (Colonial pipeline tanks); T.J. Kirkpatrick-Pool/Getty Images (Biden); Joe Raedle/Getty Images (badge)
For years, cybersecurity experts, intelligence officials and lawmakers have warned about the high-stakes threat of a ransomware attack on U.S. critical infrastructure.
But it wasn t until this month s ransomware attack against Colonial Pipeline Co. that the real-world impact became tangible. The cyberattack by the DarkSide ransomware gang forced the Georgia-based company to shut down its entire 5,500-mile pipeline system,