{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://casar.house.gov/media/press-releases/news-warren-whitehouse-casar-lawmakers-slam-35-companies-paying-their", "NEWS: Warren, Whitehouse, Casar, Lawmakers Slam 35 Companies for Paying Their Executives More Than They Pay in Federal Income Taxes", "2024-09-27", "2024", "2024-09", "Democrat", "House", "TX", "Greg Casar", "C001131", "casar.house.gov", "casar", "https://casar.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 Today, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Congressman Greg Casar (D-Texas) led their colleagues in slamming 35 major companies that have been paying their executives more than they pay in federal income taxes. The lawmakers, led by Warren and Whitehouse in the U.S. Senate and Casar in the U.S. House, are calling for Congress to finally reform the tax code in 2025 so that big corporations are paying what they owe.\n\n\u201cFor decades, big businesses and the wealthy have skirted their responsibility to pay federal income taxes, leaving hardworking Americans to foot the bill,\u201d wrote the lawmakers. \u201cAs Congress considers what to do when some provisions of the 2017 law expire next year, it is critical that we ensure that large, profitable businesses are paying their fair share.\u201d\n\nIn the first five years following the $2 trillion Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) passed by Republicans and signed by President Trump in 2017, 35 companies raked in $277 billion in domestic profits. These companies then paid an average effective income tax rate of just 14.1%, almost a third less than the 21% statutory rate. Instead of these gains \u201ctrickling down\u201d to workers, the corporations paid their executives $9.5 billion \u2013 more than they paid in federal income taxes. While executives were making $989,000 per year or more, an average raise of $50,000 per executive, 90% of workers saw no earnings increase.\n\nThe most egregious examples of these companies \u2014 and the ones the lawmakers wrote to \u2014 include: Tesla, TMobile, Netflix, AIG, Ford, NextEra, Darden, MetLife, Duke Energy, First Energy, DISH, Principal Financial, American Electrical Power, Kinder Morgan, Dominion, Oneok, Williams, Xcel Energy, NRG Energy, Salesforce, DTE Energy, Ameren, Sempra Energy, US Steel, Entergy, AmerisourceBergen, PPL, CMS Energy, Evergy, Voya Financial, Atmos Energy, Alliant Energy, Match Group, UGI, and Agilent Tech.\n\n\u201cNext year, Congress has an opportunity to take bigger strides in reforming our tax code \u2013 to raise the corporate rate, close loopholes, and hold big businesses to the same standards as everyday working Americans who pay their fair share,\u201d concluded the lawmakers.\n\nIn addition to Senators Warren and Whitehouse, and Congressman Casar, the letters were also signed by Senators Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.), and Peter Welch (D-Vermont), as well as Representatives Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Eleanor Norton (D-D.C.), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.).\n\nThe full letters can be viewed here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:43:57Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://casar.house.gov/media/press-releases/news-warren-whitehouse-casar-lawmakers-slam-35-companies-paying-their"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.1962910648435354, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}