While President Donald Trump and his campaign legal team continue to dispute election results, a growing list of nonpartisan U.S. business groups are calling for an end to the turmoil, a focus on transition efforts and a commitment to ratcheting up the work to address urgent COVID-19 pandemic issues across the country.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has pledged to work with the administration of President-elect Joe Biden and called for federal leaders and members of Congress to move on with efforts to address the nation’s economic priorities.
“While there may be differences of opinion on how to best move forward, our nation must rally around the common cause of recovery,” read a statement from the chamber. “On this, there can be no division. We stand ready to help break through the gridlock and help get things done through collaboration and good governance.
“Job No. 1 must be pandemic relief. American small businesses cannot afford for Congress to wait another three months to act. We stand ready to help our leaders get this much-needed legislation passed as quickly as possible.”
The Salt Lake Chamber’s weigh-in on the current status of the election process and ongoing economic needs was somewhat more measured than the national group. Salt Lake Chamber President/CEO Derek Miller called for collective patience, underscored his group’s confidence in the process, and noted ongoing partnerships at the local and state levels aimed at continuing to move the COVID-19 recovery forward.
“The vote is sacred in America,” Miller said in a statement. “The Constitution guarantees that right to vote and provides a democratic process for elections, as well as remedies to correct any irregularities based on evidence. This process means every vote will be counted and a certified presidential winner will assume office on Jan. 20, 2021. By design, this framework provides predictability and stability.
“Our founders were astute in their foresight, and as the voice of business the Salt Lake Chamber remains confident in the system.”
The statement continued, “We have called upon business and community leaders to work together to solve problems for individuals, our families, and the community — not only as we endeavor to mitigate and overcome COVID-19, but as state and local governments cooperate to appropriately certify elections across the country.
“We have important work ahead to grow economically, to protect the vulnerable, promote inclusivity, strengthen the workforce, and double down on American innovation. This is our operating model, and it is predicated on an electoral process that is fair and accurate — one that engenders confidence — and to this end, we must trust in and allow the constitutional process to work.”
Business Roundtable, a group of U.S. business leaders whose companies employ some 15 million, congratulated Trump for his work but called for the administration to move forward.
“Business Roundtable commends President Trump for a hard-fought campaign that has garnered over 70 million votes,” the group wrote in a statement. “We know the outcome is disappointing to his millions of supporters. While we respect the Trump campaign’s right to seek recounts, to call for investigation of alleged voting irregularities where evidence exists and to exhaust legitimate legal remedies, there is no indication that any of these would change the outcome.
“In the days ahead, it is critical that we move forward together to strengthen our country. As we enter another period of closely divided government, we call on elected officials and Americans across the political spectrum to work in good faith to find common ground. Our country faces great challenges in the months ahead to defeat the pandemic and rebuild our economy. We will meet them only by working together.”
In a blog posting, Microsoft President Brad Smith revisited a message that company had for then President-elect Trump following the contentious 2016 election.
“Every president-elect deserves our congratulations, best wishes and support for the country as a whole,” the company’s statement read. “The peaceful transition of power has been an enduring and vital part of our democracy for over two centuries, and it remains so today.”
Smith said that four years later, the sentiment continues to apply and noted numerous technology-centric policy efforts that would likely find bipartisan support and help accelerate the country’s economic response to, and recovery from, the COVID-19 pandemic. His list included a call to address the disparities in high-speed internet access, particularly for rural communities, and noted “broadband has become the electricity of the 21st century, vital for everything from patients needing telehealth consultations to children who are attending school from home.” He also highlighted the need for better workforce training and a clear effort to improve outcomes of postsecondary education that he said has “left too many students confronting debt without a degree.”
Advocacy group Small Business for America’s Future was more adamant in its call for ending the election results dispute and addressing the needs of the country’s worst-hit businesses.
The group noted that U.S. small businesses have suffered the most under restrictions and social changes wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic and cited survey data in which 34% of small-business owners say they will not survive past the end of the year without further financial relief, 28% have considered closing their business permanently due to COVID-19 and 19% are facing the possibility of declaring bankruptcy.
“That is a desperate state of affairs for the 30 million small-business owners in this country who employ nearly half of all American workers,” the group wrote in a news release. “We need a healthy small business sector to have a strong economic recovery.
“To get there we need a national plan to control the virus and additional federal relief targeting Main Street.”
While election results remain a point of contention for the Trump campaign, it is also unclear what, if any, COVID-19 relief action may be taken up by the lame-duck session of Congress before the end of the year.