Home Depot Political Contributions: PAC, Lobbying, and Founders

Home Depot’s political contributions come from three main channels: an employee-funded political action committee that gave roughly $2 million to federal candidates in the 2023–2024 cycle split about 58% Republican and 42% Democrat,¹ millions more in annual federal lobbying and trade association dues, and evenly split corporate contributions to state-level party organizations. The high-profile partisan giving that draws headlines and boycott calls almost always comes from the personal fortunes of the company’s three retired co-founders, which Home Depot has repeatedly said do not represent its corporate positions.

What The Home Depot PAC Gives And To Whom

The Home Depot Inc. Political Action Committee (FEC ID: C00284885) is funded entirely by voluntary contributions from salaried associates and shareholders who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents. The company says the average contribution is about $5 per paycheck, and as of 2021 nearly half of salaried associates participated. Contributors can designate whether their money supports Republican or Democratic candidates.²

In the 2023–2024 cycle the PAC raised $4.4 million, spent $4.6 million, and directed $2,028,000 to federal candidates. Republicans received $1,178,000 and Democrats received $840,000.³ The split was tighter in the House at roughly 57–43 and wider in the Senate, where Republicans took about 69%.¹

The top individual recipients that cycle were Rep. Richard McCormick (R-Ga.) at $15,000, followed by Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.) and Rep. Zach Nunn (R-Iowa) at $12,500 each. Most other candidates received $10,000, a group that included House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and members of the Congressional Black Caucus and the New Democrat Coalition.¹

The PAC’s partisan lean has drifted. In 2016 only about 30% went to Democrats. That rose to 36% in 2018, 44% in 2020, and 42% in 2024, a more bipartisan pattern than Lowe’s PAC, which sent roughly 70% of its 2020 giving to Republicans.⁴

By policy, the PAC does not support or endorse presidential candidates. It evaluates candidates on factors including their committee assignments, positions on issues relevant to the company, leadership roles, whether a Home Depot facility sits in their district, and support from business and retail organizations.⁵

Federal Lobbying Spending And Issues

Home Depot spent $3.4 million on federal lobbying in 2024 and $4.1 million in 2023,⁶ and reported $1.09 million in the first quarter of 2026.⁷ The in-house Government Relations department, led by Vice President Heather Kennedy, works alongside outside firms. Retained firms in 2024 included Invariant LLC ($360,000) and Fierce Government Relations ($320,000).⁸

A 2024 Fierce Government Relations disclosure lists the specific issues Home Depot lobbied on: organized retail crime legislation (the House and Senate versions of the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act), consumer privacy (the American Privacy Rights Act), de minimis trade thresholds and tariff policy, corporate tax rates and expiring Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provisions, and workforce and labor issues including the East Coast ports strike.⁹ The company describes its advocacy priorities publicly as economic growth and housing, supply chain infrastructure, fair competition and taxation, combating organized retail crime, and public-private disaster response partnerships.²

Tariffs have become a central issue. In April 2025, CEO Ted Decker met with President Trump at the White House to discuss the impact of tariffs on retail, afterward calling it an “informative and constructive meeting.”¹⁰ On a May 2025 investor call, Decker and merchandising chief Billy Bastek said the company did not plan broad price increases, though some items might be discontinued. Home Depot has been pushing suppliers to diversify and expects no single foreign country to account for more than 10% of product purchases by mid-2026; Decker said more than half of items are already sourced domestically.¹¹

Trade Associations And State-Level Giving

Beyond the PAC and direct lobbying, Home Depot funds trade associations that do their own political and lobbying work. The company discloses aggregate dues along with an estimated portion used for non-deductible lobbying and political activity:

2022: $2.0 million (53% for lobbying/political use)
2023: $2.38 million (52%)
2024: $3.5 million (26%)
2025: $1.57 million (55%)

Recipients of $5,000 or more in annual dues include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable, and the Retail Industry Leaders Association, along with dozens of state retail associations and chambers. The company also funds policy coalitions such as the U.S. Business Alliance for Customs Modernization and Reforming America’s Taxes Equitably.¹²

Direct corporate contributions to state-level political organizations have followed an evenly split pattern from 2021 through 2025: $125,000 each to the Democratic and Republican attorneys general associations, $100,000 each to the two governors associations, and $25,000 each to the two legislative campaign committees. The company has also occasionally supported state ballot measures, including California retail crime and homelessness initiatives in 2024.¹²

Where The Founders’ Money Goes (And Why It Isn’t The Company’s)

Most public controversy about Home Depot and politics traces back to the personal donations of its three co-founders, all of whom have been retired from the company for more than two decades. Their giving spans the ideological spectrum, and the company has repeatedly said their views are their own.

Bernie Marcus

Marcus, who retired in 2002 and died on November 4, 2024, at age 95, was one of the country’s most prolific Republican mega-donors.¹³¹⁴⁴¹⁵

Ken Langone

Langone and his wife Elaine gave $470,300 in the 2020 cycle, with 99% going to Republican candidates according to the Center for Responsive Politics, including Kevin McCarthy and Tom Cotton. Langone expressed support for Trump in media appearances but publicly denounced him after the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack.⁴

Arthur Blank

Blank, owner of the Atlanta Falcons, has been a dedicated Democratic donor. He gave $250,000 to committees supporting Joe Biden in 2020 and has also given to Hillary Clinton, the Democratic National Committee, and various state Democratic parties.¹⁶ In 2024, contributions associated with his family foundation went overwhelmingly to Democrats, including $206,750 to the DNC. He also gave $400,000 to the Republican Accountability PAC, which worked against Republican officials who supported efforts to overturn the 2020 election.¹⁷ In 2021 Blank publicly opposed changes to Georgia voting laws.¹⁸

The company has drawn a firm line between the founders and itself. A spokesperson told CBS News in 2019 that Home Depot “does not endorse Presidential candidates” and that Marcus “isn’t speaking on behalf of the company.”¹⁴¹⁵¹⁹

Boycotts And Public Controversy

Home Depot has faced at least three distinct waves of consumer boycott campaigns.

The first came in July 2019, when #BoycottHomeDepot spread after reports that Marcus planned to donate to Trump’s 2020 reelection. The company repeated that it does not endorse presidential candidates and that Marcus had been retired for over a decade. Trump himself defended Marcus on Twitter as a “patriotic & charitable man.”²⁰

A second round came in April 2022 after the watchdog group Accountable.US reported that the Home Depot PAC had given $360,000 to at least 60 Republican lawmakers who objected to the certification of the 2020 election. A later Guardian analysis put the PAC’s total giving to certification objectors during the 2022 cycle at $578,000, among the highest of any corporate PAC.²¹ The company said its PAC “supports candidates on both sides of the aisle who champion pro-business, pro-retail positions” and noted it was among the largest donors to the New Democrat Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus.²²

A third campaign, organized by Indivisible and the No Kings Alliance under the name “We Ain’t Buying It,” targeted Home Depot along with Amazon and Target during the 2025 Thanksgiving-through-Cyber Monday period. Organizers alleged that Home Depot had “allowed federal immigration enforcement to occur in their stores.”²³ The claim followed a series of federal immigration sweeps in Home Depot parking lots across Southern California, where day laborers often gather for work. At least a dozen stores were targeted; a Van Nuys location was raided at least five times during the summer of 2025. In August 2025 a man fleeing a raid outside a Monrovia store was struck and killed on a nearby freeway. Spokesperson Beth Marlowe said the company is never notified before enforcement actions, instructs associates to report and not engage with suspected activity, and lets employees who are shaken by a raid go home for the rest of the day with pay. Witnesses at the Van Nuys store reported that local managers had closed automated glass doors to keep agents out of the building during operations.²⁴

Disclosure And Shareholder Oversight

The company’s Political Activity and Government Relations Policy, updated in February 2026, requires all lobbying and government engagement to be coordinated through Government Relations. The company generally does not use corporate treasury funds for contributions to candidates, party committees, campaigns, or 527 entities, and commits to disclosing any such contributions if made. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of the board conducts an annual review of political contributions and trade association payments.⁵

Shareholders have pushed for more disclosure. The Tara Health Foundation submitted proposals in 2021 and 2023 asking the company to publish an annual analysis of whether its political spending aligns with its stated values, citing PAC donations to legislators who opposed reproductive healthcare and climate policy and to members of Congress who objected to the 2020 election certification.²⁵ The board recommended against the proposal both times. The 2023 version received 31% investor support before being rejected.²⁶ The company’s 2025 proxy statement contained no shareholder proposals specifically targeting political spending disclosure.²⁷

1
OpenSecrets. Home Depot PAC Candidate Recipients, 2024
2
The Home Depot. Political Engagement at The Home Depot
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OpenSecrets. Home Depot PAC Summary, 2024
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Business Insider. Home Depot and Lowe’s Politics
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The Home Depot. Political Activity and Government Relations Policy
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OpenSecrets. Home Depot Organization Profile
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OpenSecrets. Home Depot Lobbying Summary
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OpenSecrets. Home Depot Lobbying Firms, 2024
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U.S. Senate. Fierce Government Relations Lobbying Filing for Home Depot
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CNBC. Trump Tariffs: Walmart, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Target
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NPR. Home Depot Tariffs, Prices, Product Lines
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The Home Depot. Advocacy and Political Activity Reports
13
Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Bernie Marcus, Home Depot Founder Who Gave to Republicans and Israel, Dies at 95
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CBS News. Home Depot Distances Itself From Trump-Supporting Cofounder After Calls for Boycott
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USA Today. Fact Check: False Claim About Home Depot Herschel Walker Donation
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Business Insider. Home Depot Cofounder Arthur Blank on Politics, Supporting Biden
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OpenSecrets. Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation Recipients, 2024
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InfluenceWatch. Arthur Blank
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AFP Fact Check. Fact Check on Home Depot and Herschel Walker Donation
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KUOW. Home Depot Responds to Calls for Boycott Over Co-Founder’s Support for Trump
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The Guardian. US Corporations Donate to Midterm Campaigns of Election Deniers
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Newsweek. Home Depot Facing Boycott Calls After Donating to Some Jan. 6 Apologists
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The Desert Sun. Target, Amazon, Home Depot Boycott Over Trump Administration
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ABC 6. Home Depot Stores, Long a Hub for Day Laborers, Now Draw Immigration Agents Raids
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U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Home Depot 2021 Proxy – Shareholder Proposal Regarding Political Contributions Congruency Analysis
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Bloomberg Law. Home Depot Investors Vote Against Political Spending Proposal
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The Home Depot. Home Depot 2025 Proxy Statement