Congressional Republicans Target Citibank After Anti-Gun Moves

Citibank made it clear: it is not a fan of the Second Amendment. It also paved the way for outfits like Bank of America to take a swing at the Second Amendment, too.

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Well, now, they have to deal with the ramifications of that action. It seems some Republican lawmakers are looking to do a little swinging back at the financial giant.

Sixteen Republican congressmen are asking the General Services Administration (GSA) to reevaluate a $700 billion contract with Citibank as a result of the the financial institution’s “anti-Second Amendment policies.”

The congressmen, led by Indiana Rep. Todd Rokita, sent a letter to GSA Administrator Emily Murphy on Wednesday, asking her to terminate the contract in response to Citibank’s March announcement restricting its clients participation in gun sales.

“In 2017, the General Services Administration (GSA) awarded Citibank a contract of more than $700 billion to partially implement the federal charge card program, SmartPay 3,” the congressmen wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation.

“Because of Citibank’s new guidelines targeting customers wishing to exercise their legal Second Amendment rights, we urge you to cancel Citibank’s participation in the SmartPay 3 contract, and award it to a company that does not unfairly restrict a customer’s constitutional rights,” it reads.

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I’ll be honest; I have mixed feelings about this.

While I don’t support Citibank’s move in any way, shape, or form, I’m not a fan of the government punishing a company for who it chooses to do business with or not.

On the other hand, however, we live in a world where that’s happening one way or another, so we might as well remember that our opponents won’t blink to use these tactics, so we should probably do the same.

If the move is successful, expect Citibank to take a hit. $700 billion isn’t exactly chump change. The loss of a contract like that will smart for a long, long time and could force the board to make changes to the leadership that allowed this to happen.

The fact is, companies don’t have any business playing politics when your customer base consists of Americans from all walks of life. Sure, they’re going to do it when it impacts their business, and I get that. But this didn’t. In fact, they’re saying they want to lose money unless people do what they want.

And that’s where they cross the line.

If the GSA pulls the contract from Citibank, it’s going to be hard for me to muster one iota of sympathy for anyone at Citibank who made this decision. Oh, the teller who might lose her job because of this? Nothing but sympathy for her plight as this wasn’t her doing. The same for the loan officer who loses his job for the same reason. But the executives who helped make this happen? Sorry, I just can’t do it.

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Further, I can’t help but think losing $700 billion is far more than they were prepared to lose when they issued their pathetic excuses for “best practices” they expect gun stores to adhere to.

And, frankly, that’s hilarious.

The question, however, is whether this will happen or not. That remains to be seen. The GSA may not do anything, which would mean Citibank can keep doing what it’s doing. However, it may also serve as a warning to other companies that they may want to tread lightly.

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