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President Donald Trump is enlisting business leaders including many of his top donors to help guide the White House through its attempt to gradually reopen parts of the economy shuttered by the coronavirus pandemic.

The White House published a list of executives this week dubbed Great American Economic Revival Industry Groups who will be asked to join conference calls with the president on how to reopen the economy. The list includes dozens of Trump donors and several major benefactors to Republican candidates.

Members of the new task force and their spouses gave a combined $467 million to Republican candidates and conservative groups since the 2016 election cycle, according to contribution data from OpenSecrets. Together theyve given tens of millions to Trumps joint fundraising committee and millions more to pro-Trump super PACs.

About half of Trumps advisers in the financial services industry are big GOP donors. Its headlined by Blackstone Group CEO Stephen Schwarzman, the top Republican donor so far this cycle. Schwarzman, who advises Trump, recently gave $10 million to Senate Republicans top super PAC and $3 million to pro-Trump super PAC America First Action. Schwarzman told Yahoo Finance the country will need to implement mass testing before Americans will be comfortable going back to work. Trump has told lawmakers that some parts of the country, particularly rural areas, can reopen without expanded testing.

Industry executives Warren Stephens, Paul Singer, Charles Schwab and Kenneth Griffin are also being asked to advise Trump. They are all multi-million dollar GOP donors. Republican National Committee Finance Chairman Todd Ricketts and venture capitalist Doug Leone, whose wife Patricia is a prolific Trump donor, are also named.

Retail, among the industries hit hardest by the pandemic, received significant representation. In addition to naming Home Depot CEO Craig Menear to its list, the White House also listed Home Depot co-founders Bernie Marcus and Ken Langone. Both of those billionaires no longer work for the home improvement company, but they are major Republican donors. Langone urged Fox News viewers last month to comply with health officials recommendations and stay home. Marcus, who gave $5 million to a pro-Trump super PAC in 2016, said this week that the government-imposed shutdown cant go on too much longer.

Trumps biggest campaign backer and the top Republican donor of all time, casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, headlines Trumps advisers in the hospitality industry. Treasure Island Hotel and Casino owner Phil Ruffin is also named. A friend of Trumps, Ruffin is a six-figure donor to Trumps joint fundraising committee and owns 50 percent of the Trump International Las Vegas hotel.

In sports, World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Vince McMahons wife, Linda McMahon, is Trumps top donor and leads America First Action, the only official pro-Trump super PAC. Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White also gave $1 million to the super PAC. White is trying to hold an event in early May as health officials warn against mass gatherings. Florida recently allowed WWE to hold events if they are closed to the public.

Among Trumps transportation industry advisers, a lesser known North Carolina company called LDJ Global Strategies is looped in with industry giants like United Airlines, UPS and Uber. The company is led by Louis DeJoy, who is leading fundraising efforts for the Republican National Convention. He and his wife, Aldona Wos, are major donors to Trump and the Republican National Committee. Trump picked Wos to be U.S. Ambassador to Canada, continuing the presidential tradition of nominating campaign donors to cushy diplomatic posts.

In the agriculture industry, Mountaire Farms Chairman Ronald Cameron is a major donor to pro-Trump and GOP super PACs. Also on the list, California carrot producer Barbara Grimm-Marshall gave over $740,000 to Take Back the House, a joint fundraising committee for Republican congressional candidates led by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). McCarthy congratulated Grimm-Marshall when she was appointed to a Department of Agriculture advisory committee last summer.

In construction, California real estate executive Geoffrey Palmer gave $4 million to America First Action. Palmer held a fundraiser for Trump in his Beverly Hills home last year.

Trumps advisers gave a total of $8.3 million to Democratic candidates and causes since the 2016 cycle compared to $467 million to Republicans. Jon Gray, an executive at Blackstone Group, and his wife Mindy, are among the few Democratic donors. Only 21 names on Trumps list have not made a political contribution. The list does include some individuals who have clashed with Trump in recent years, such as AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

It is unclear how the White House decided on who to include. Some members of the task force didnt know they would be asked to join until their names were published on the White House website. By organizing the group of industry leaders the way it did, the White House skirted transparency rules, Politico reported.

Trump originally said the president can decide when the nation reopens parts of its economy. But that decision is up to state and local authorities. Trump released guidance Thursday that says states with low numbers of confirmed coronavirus cases can reopen by May 1. However, the guidance confirms governors have the final say on when to lift stay-at-home orders and other restrictions. Public health officials are warning that the U.S. does not have nearly enough testing capacity to lift restrictions.

COVID-19 has killed over 30,000 Americans. More than 22 million Americans filed for unemployment over the last month, erasing job gains made over the last decade. The widespread economic damage and job losses caused by the coronavirus is putting pressure on governors to lift restrictions.

Sarah Bryner and Dan Auble contributed to this report.

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Karl joined the Center for Responsive Politics in October 2018. As CRPs money-in-politics reporter, he writes and edits stories for the news section and helps manage a team of diligent writers. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Karl graduated from State University of New York at New Paltz in 2016 with a B.A. in journalism. He previously worked at The Globe, a regional newspaper based in Worthington, Minnesota. His email is [emailprotected]

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Trump advisers on reopening economy gave half-billion to Republican efforts since 2015 - Center for Responsive Politics