Penny Pritzker Sees Harris White House as Corporate America Ally

Miranda Davis
·3-min read

(Bloomberg) -- Penny Pritzker predicts Vice President Kamala Harris would collaborate with US corporations if elected president, a potential boon for technology, energy and finance sectors that have struggled to find allies in the Democratic Party in recent years.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The former US commerce secretary, who is helping Harris’ campaign engage with business leaders and develop policy, said she sees the potential for Harris to court both corporate America and labor unions. Hailing from California, she brings her understanding of the tech industry, artificial intelligence and cyber security, Pritzker said.

“She is more interested in working with business and labor side by side,” Pritzker said Tuesday during a Bloomberg event on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. “Corporate America is curious and open and interested in working with her, and she’ll take advantage of that opportunity.”

Large US companies have had few allies in Washington in recent years, as Democrats’ progressive economic stances often put them at odds with corporations, and a rift has formed with certain factions of the Republican Party, once the longtime allies of the business community. Many Republican have taken strident stances on the tech sector and some Wall Street banks they view as too liberal.

Pritzker hails from one of the richest US families, whose assets include Hyatt Hotels. Her brother JB Pritzker, the governor of Illinois, was heavily involved in bringing this week’s DNC to Chicago.

For business, Harris will be a “president whose door is open,” said former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick who spoke at the same Bloomberg event on Tuesday. “Most of the challenges frankly that face Americans and face humankind are not going to be solved by one sector acting alone.”

The comments come as Harris is just beginning to define her economic agenda and style. Pritzker said Harris’ approach will likely reflect her time as a prosecutor, where she targeted businesses that took advantage of consumers.

The relationship Pritzker describes could mark a shift from the sometimes rocky alliance with President Joe Biden’s administration. Corporate leaders have grumbled that the president’s regulatory and tax agenda is punitive, but many industries have flourished during Biden’s time in the White House. Semiconductor makers and the renewable energy sector have directly benefited from tax breaks and other investments.

Harris has recently begun detailing some pillars of her economic vision, including measures to combat high costs, like programs to curb housing costs and provide tax cuts to families with children. She’s called to reduce food prices by targeting companies that she says are price gouging consumers in favor of profits, a stance that her opponent Donald Trump has called “communist.” She also supports hiking the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21%, a proposal Biden first endorsed.

Harris has been assembling an economic team and is reaching out to corporate leaders for input, Pritzker said. Still, Harris isn’t likely to fully develop a comprehensive economic plan before the November election.

“I’m not sure that in less than 80 days, we’re going to end up with binders and binders and binders of economic policy,” she said.

Pritzker just wrapped up a yearlong role helping Biden’s administration support Ukraine’s economic recovery.

“All bets are off” for Ukraine, should Trump win this November, Pritzker said, adding that anyone who thinks Russian President Vladamir Putin will stop with his incursion into Ukraine are wrong.

--With assistance from Brad Stone.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.

Latest stories