DNC votes to roll back Obama ban against corporate lobby donations

25 Feb, 2017 20:17 / Updated 8 years ago

The Democratic National Committee has enraged social media users following a vote against a ban on corporate political action committee donations, rousing sentiment that the party has not learned from Hillary Clinton’s crushing defeat to Donald Trump.

Despite Clinton’s campaign being mired in accusations of pay for play, influence from Wall Street and oil and gas industries, the DNC appears to have a short memory.

A majority of the 422 eligible members voted against Resolution 33 by California DNC member Christine Pelosi, which called for a ban on corporate PAC donations and an end to the DNC chair appointing registered federal corporate lobbyists to serve as at-large members.

The resolution also urged the DNC to build on its “success with small donor fundraising,” referring to Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’ success in the Democratic primary.

The ban was first introduced by Barack Obama in 2008. Former chair of the DNC, Debbie Wasserman Schultz quietly rolled back the ban in time for the 2016 elections, as a February 2016 report by the Washington Post revealed.

The DNC will vote for a new chair Saturday. Donna Brazile has been the interim chair since Wasserman Schultz was forced to resign in July, after WikiLeaks released emails from the DNC revealing she worked against Sanders to support Clinton despite claiming she was neutral.

READ MORE: DNC chair Schultz resigns following WikiLeaks revelations

Brazile was later exposed by WikiLeaks for leaking CNN debate questions to the Clinton campaign and sharing Sanders’ social media strategy with them.

READ MORE: Brazile out at CNN after WikiLeaks reveals she gave debate questions to Clinton camp

Candidates for the DNC leadership position include frontrunners former Labor secretary Tom Perez and Minnesota Rep Keith Ellison, along with Idaho Democratic Party executive director Sally Boynton Brown, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg, former DNC official Jehmu Greene, Air Force veteran Sam Ronan and lawyer Peter Peckarsky.