Tom Steyer, a billionaire hedge fund manager and Democratic mega-donor, said in an interview with Fortune on Wednesday that he refuses to donate to the Democratic Party after the “Schumer Shutdown” debacle.
Steyer revealed in an interview on Wednesday, “I don’t have a litmus test on any one thing, but I do have a litmus test for elected officials standing on principle and doing the right thing, looked at holistically. And I want to say that after the DACA vote I have decided not to give anything to the national party committees.”
Steyer confirmed that his refusal to donate to the Democratic Party includes the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), as well as the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). Steyer added that he has not discussed his decision with any parts of the Democratic organizations.
Both the DSCC and the DCCC did not respond to a request for comment from Fortune, but the DNC cheered the work of Steyer’s group, NextGen America.
DNC spokesman Michael Tyler said in a statement:
The more money flowing toward efforts to elect Democratic candidates the better. We saw last fall in Virginia — where NextGen, among many other emerging progressive groups, deployed dozens of organizers across the state — how successful we can be when we’re united in our efforts to elect Democrats up and down the ballot.
Steyer has donated over $400,000 to the three Democratic groups since 2015, although he believes that his own organization can more effectively push his goals through than the DNC. Steyer explained:
At this point what we’ve seen from the party committees is we are at a point where we can definitely stand up for what we think is right more directly by the programs that we’re doing. I know that people focus on these FEC controlled election contributions but overwhelmingly, what we do is go directly to the American people.
Steyer continues to serve as one of the primary leaders of the movement to impeach President Donald Trump. Reports suggest that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) continue to be skeptical about Steyer’s efforts to impeach the 45th president.
Steyer said regarding the 2018 midterm elections, “If we don’t win on Nov. 6, 2018, we’re screwed. Just screwed. We can let the future take care of itself if we take care of the present.”
