Longtime U.S. Chamber of Commerce head Tom Donohue will step down as CEO in June 2022, the business group said Wednesday, and relinquish his title as president immediately.
Senior executive vice president Suzanne Clark will take over Donohue’s role as president, while the Chamber looks for its next CEO in 2022.
“The Chamber is deep in talent and expertise and I am thrilled that Tom and Suzanne are committed to leading this team at this important time,” said Allstate CEO Tom Wilson, chairman of the Chamber’s board of directors, in a statement.
Donohue pushed for lower taxes and lower regulations for over 20 years, assuming his position in 1997. More recently, he has led the Chamber as it has clashed with President Trump over immigration and trade.
“To ensure businesses can create jobs and economic prosperity, we need Congress to support fair trade, infrastructure improvements, and immigration reform,” Wilson said.
He added that the change in leadership will help the Chamber rebuild the “political center.”
An 81 year-old from Brooklyn, Donohue worked as the deputy assistant postmaster general from 1969 to 1976, helping transform the Post Office from a government-run department into the quasi-private U.S. Postal Service.
He joined the development department of the Chamber in 1976 and worked for eight years under its president at the time, Richard Lesher. He then left in 1984 to be president and CEO of the American Trucking Association and turned it into a powerhouse, holding that position until his return to the Chamber as president in 1997.
He revolutionized the Chamber and significantly increased its political importance during his tenure.
“He took a kind of sleepy organization and turned it into one of the most aggressive lobbying groups in town,” John Podesta, former Bill Clinton chief of staff, said of Donohue in 2009.
He had success in getting major corporations to increase donations for political activity, bringing in millions more than previous years. The Chamber played a major role in the Republican takeover of the Senate in 2014 and the subsequent transformation of the federal judiciary.
His notable actions in recent years include supporting the lifting of tariffs to relieve American farmers and manufacturers amid the U.S.-China trade war in May and pushing for an infrastructure plan and a resolution to the immigration challenges.
In his 2019 State of American Business Address, Donohue said, “We are calling on the president and Congress to come together and support a reasonable solution: protection for the Dreamers and long-term Temporary Protected Status beneficiaries and the resources necessary to secure the border.”
