Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is calling on federal agencies to cut ties with McKinsey & Co., a New York City-based management consulting firm, in light of media reports that it was quietly working with opioid manufacturers while at the same under contract with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s drug approval agency.
“McKinsey & Company’s entire business model is to profit from undisclosed conflicts of interest,” Rubio said in a statement. “We know the company has been doing this with opioid producers and federal regulators, which underscores the massive danger posed by McKinsey’s work for both the Chinese Communist Party and vast segments of America’s national security infrastructure.
"The Chinese Communist Party poses an existential threat to our nation, and McKinsey cannot be trusted," he added. "Every federal agency should immediately cut ties with the company.”
McKinsey has offices in 69 countries, but it’s the firm’s involvement with China that alarmed Rubio.
Clare Slattery, Rubio’s deputy press secretary, told State Newswire that the Florida senator has kept a watchful eye on McKinsey in recent years.
“Sen. Rubio has long been outspoken about McKinsey and other corporations’ ties to the Chinese Communist Party,” Slattery said. “As you can see, he has made statements, written a number of letters, and introduced legislation to address this problem.”
On June 17, 2020, he sent a letter to Kevin Sneader, the company’s global managing partner, requesting information about McKinsey's relationship with the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) “including state-owned and state-run companies in China, and what impact those relationships have on McKinsey’s relationship with the U.S. government.”
Sneader was voted out as global managing partner in February 2021. Bob Sternfels currently holds the position. Slattery said despite the change, the same issues continue to exist.
“While I can’t speak to either of the men’s specific leadership, I would say our problems with McKinsey and their lack of responsiveness to our inquiries have seemed to be a consistent theme over the past few years,” she told State Newswire.
In the letter, Rubio said the Chinese government and CCP “are engaged in a systematic campaign to supplant America, and shift the nature of the global economic and political system to one that eliminates human rights and the rule of law and prioritizes central control.”
Rubio sent a second letter Nov. 16, 2020, saying he was unhappy with the response, and in some cases lack of response, to his earlier note.
“I remain concerned that McKinsey & Co., either wittingly or unwittingly, is aiding the CCP’s attempt to supplant the United States and remake the international community in its own image,” the letter stated. “We must ensure that firms working on behalf of the U.S. government and U.S. companies are putting America’s interests first. McKinsey’s inability to provide clear, direct answers only exacerbates those concerns and raises serious questions as to whether our government, including the intelligence community, should continue to use McKinsey’s services.”
On March 25, 2021, Rubio introduced the Federal Acquisitions and Contracting Transparency (FACT) Act to require federal contractors to disclose any existing contracts with the Chinese government, the Chinese Communist Party, military or any other entity or organization affiliated with and under the control of the government.
“Contractors would also be required to disclose any new contracts with entities of concern throughout the duration of their contract with the federal government,” according to a release from Rubio’s office.
“It is common sense that any company working with the U.S. government should publicly disclose its connection to the Chinese government and Communist Party and related entities,” Rubio said. “It is no secret that the CCP will lie, cheat and steal to strengthen itself at the expense of America’s economic and national security. U.S. workers, entrepreneurs and families have been the victims of the CCP’s aggression for far too long. Previously undisclosed relationships between federal contractors and CCP-related entities may pose serious institutional conflicts of interest. Transparency is a critical step to addressing the systemic challenge we face from the CCP.”
On Dec. 17, 2021, Rubio said McKinsey had not been forthcoming when asked about its relationship with China. Three times it has assured him there was no connection, but during a bankruptcy disclosure process in September 2002, it admitted to “client connections” to the Chinese government, and the Chinese Communist Party, Rubio said.
“It has come to my attention that McKinsey & Co. appears to have lied to me and my staff on multiple occasions regarding McKinsey’s relationship with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Chinese government,” Rubio wrote. “It is increasingly clear that McKinsey & Company cannot be trusted to continue working on behalf of the U.S. government, including our intelligence community.”
McKinsey is far from alone in its dealings with the Chinese government.
The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, a nonprofit anti-communist organization founded by a unanimous act of Congress in 1993, developed the Corporate Complicity Scorecard report. The scorecard assesses U.S. companies’ exposure to military modernization, human rights violations, and government surveillance in China.
Several prominent companies received low scores from the foundation. Amazon and Apple received "D" grades, while Dell, GE, Intel and Microsoft all received "F" grades. All these companies are highly exposes to military modernization, human rights violations and government surveillance in China, according to The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.
There are five ways that corporations support the Chinese government’s human rights abuses, state of surveillance, and military modernization, according to Victims of Communism. They include offshoring manufacturing and innovation, partnering or engaging in Chinese companies that serve the People’s Liberation Army, adhering to China’s regulations regarding data and information collection, and dependence on the Chinese markets that increase the risk from Chinese influence and propaganda.
Several themes have emerged from the report of the profiled companies. Many U.S. companies are hypocritical by saying one thing in the U.S., yet doing another in China, according to the foundation. It also alleges they are empowering a strategic competitor by working closely with China and its government.
The corporations not only off-shore industrialization, but have also off-shored research and development, thus threatening U.S. innovation, The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation states.
Most dramatically, the foundation charges the firms with “killing with a borrowed sword,” as U.S. defense contractors partner with Chinese government and military-tied partners.
The Corporate Complicity Scorecard identified several themes in the report, hypocritical behavior, conducting off-shore research and development and encouraging innovation with partnership deals with Chinese companies or state-owned entities, and U.S. defense contractors engaging in business transactions with the Chinese government and military.
