Democratic donors warn they may hold back money for midterms

Several major Democratic donors have warned leaders in Congress that they may hold back on donations for next year’s midterm elections unless the party can come together and get some big wins, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Financiers have said behind the scenes that they are frustrated with lawmakers who have yet to pass President Joe Biden’s sprawling economic agenda.

Donors have also described their frustration with the gubernatorial race in Virginia, where Democratic power player and former Gov. Terry McAuliffe is running neck and neck with Republican Glenn Youngkin, a wealthy former CEO of the Carlyle Group.

These revelations come on the heels of a new NBC News poll showing that a majority of voters surveyed disapprove of Biden’s job performance.

The House could vote this week on Biden’s plans. House Democrats have resisted voting on a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan that already passed the Senate until they could vote on a $1.8 trillion social safety net and climate bill.

The social bill, which would require the vote of every Democratic senator, has been the subject of months of negotiations between the White House, progressives such as Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and centrist Sens. Joe Manchin, of West Virginia, and Kyrsten Sinema, of Arizona. Among other items, the plan includes six years of funding for universal preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds, subsidized child care that caps what parents pay at 7% of their income, and a four-year extension of pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies.

Donors have expressed their frustration with the state of the party’s affairs in conversations with leaders including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, people familiar with the matter said. 

“Anytime there’s been an event with the Democratic leadership, whether it’s in-person, Zoom or on conference calls, donors are venting their frustration at the very public fighting among Democrats and the lack of progress on Biden’s agenda,” said a leading party bundler, who declined to be named.

People who described the conversations declined to be named due to the private nature of the talks. The conversations have taken place in virtual and in-person settings, these people added.

Representatives for Pelosi, of California, and Schumer, of New York, did not respond to requests for comment before publication.

The president’s party tends to lose seats in Congress during first-term midterm elections. And so far, several top major party donors are less than pleased with how Democrats have used their power in the White House and in…