Microsoft President Brad Smith. (GeekWire File Photo)

Microsoft says its Political Action Committee (PAC) will suspend contributions for the 2022 election cycle to all members of Congress who voted against certifying results of the U.S. presidential election, and to all “state officials and organizations who supported such objections or suggested the election should be overturned.”

The company says it will also create a new initiative called Democracy Forward to allow employees, shareholders and others who would otherwise contribute to the PAC to instead put their money toward groups that work in the interest of preserving democracy. Microsoft also pledged to work with other businesses in the interest of strengthening democracy.

In addition, the company is changing the name of its PAC to the Microsoft Corporation Stakeholders Voluntary PAC (MSVPAC) to better reflect the nature of the group, which it says is funded exclusively by shareholders, employees, and family members in support of the company’s business objectives.

The announcement Friday morning follows a controversy two weeks ago after the leak of a partial transcript of internal comments in which Microsoft President Brad Smith spoke candidly about the company’s use of campaign contributions to build beneficial relationships with politicians.

Responding at the time to those who wanted the company’s PAC to take more immediate action, Microsoft said it wanted to first speak with employees to get their input on next steps.

Fred Humphries, corporate vice president of U.S. government affairs at Microsoft. (Microsoft Photo)

“We believe these steps are appropriate given the importance of these issues for the stability and future of American democracy,” said Fred Humphries, Microsoft corporate vice president of U.S. government affairs, outlining the plan in an email posted publicly by the company Thursday morning. “They were also broadly supported in the listening sessions and other employee feedback.”

Humphries added, “We do realize that these steps, while significant, will be too much or too little for some employees. There were several other good ideas that arose from our recent meetings, and we will continue to consider other ways we can strengthen the MSVPAC.”

Jon DeVaan, a former Microsoft engineering executive turned political-reform advocate, had previously called on the company to permanently cease donations to seditious members of Congress, unless they publicly recanted their position, by taking into account both their voting record and unfounded allegations of election fraud.

Speaking via phone Friday morning, DeVaan called the company’s decision “a very positive thing, and a really good step.”

In particular, DeVaan said, “It’s encouraging that the employees are pushing for the actions that they’re announcing today, and also to keep pushing for reform. So that has me very excited.”

DeVaan said the company’s commitment to work with the business community on the issue was also an important move.

“I think January 6 was a wake-up for the business community,” he said, referring to the breach of the U.S. Capitol building on the day of the Electoral College certification,” citing research showing the importance of a working center-right party for the survival of democracies. “And so the business community absolutely has a huge interest in working to make that be true.”

Editor's Note: Microsoft provides financial support for GeekWire's independent journalism as underwriter of our civic coverage. Coverage decisions are the sole discretion of GeekWire's editorial team, without involvement or influence from underwriters. Learn more about underwritten content on GeekWire.
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