Vice President-elect JD Vance writes the foreword to “Dawn’s Early Light” by Kevin Roberts, the architect of Project 2025. In the foreword, Vance calls for “offensive conservatism” and “rebuild[ing]” government, endorsing the Heritage Foundation’s …
J.D. VanceKevin RobertsHeritage FoundationPaul DansSteven Grovessuccession-riskjd-vanceproject-2025authoritarian-consolidationgovernment-purge+2 more
Paul Dans departed as Project 2025 director on July 30, 2024, amid Trump campaign pressure to distance from the Heritage Foundation blueprint. The departure followed campaign concerns about the project becoming a political liability, though Russell Vought later claimed Trump privately supports the …
Paul DansKevin RobertsHeritage FoundationDonald TrumpRussell Voughtproject-2025heritage-foundationcampaign-strategypolitical-distancing
Heritage Foundation launched $22 million “2025 Presidential Transition Project” published April 2023, bringing together 140+ former Trump staffers and 100+ conservative organizations. Created 920-page “Mandate for Leadership” blueprint, LinkedIn-style personnel database, …
A leaked video obtained by the watchdog group Documented and shared with Mother Jones revealed that Heritage Action for America, the advocacy arm of the Heritage Foundation, was orchestrating a coordinated $24 million campaign to push voter restriction legislation across eight key battleground …
Heritage ActionJessica AndersonHeritage FoundationHans von SpakovskyBrian Kemp+4 moreheritage-foundationvoter-suppressionelectoral-manipulationdark-moneyalec+4 more
Ed Feulner, who had retired as Heritage Foundation president in 2013 after 36 years of leadership, returned as interim president and CEO on May 2, 2017, after Heritage’s Board of Trustees unanimously forced out Jim DeMint due to “significant and worsening management issues” that …
Edwin FeulnerJim DeMintHeritage FoundationHeritage Foundation Board of TrusteesKay Coles James+1 moreheritage-foundationconservative-movementinstitutional-transitionleadership-crisistrump-administration+1 more
Richard Mellon Scaife, the billionaire heir to the Mellon banking and aluminum fortune who became the most important financial architect of the modern conservative movement, died on July 4, 2014, one day after his 82nd birthday, after a battle with cancer. Scaife’s death marked the end of a …
Richard ScaifeSarah Scaife FoundationCarthage FoundationAllegheny FoundationHeritage Foundation+5 moredark-moneyconservative-movementheritage-foundationfederalist-societystate-policy-network+5 more
Edwin J. Feulner Jr. retired as president of the Heritage Foundation on April 3, 2013, after an extraordinary 36-year tenure that transformed Heritage from a small Capitol Hill operation with 9 staff members and a $1 million budget into the most influential conservative think tank in Washington, …
Edwin FeulnerHeritage FoundationJim DeMintRichard ScaifeNewt Gingrich+3 moreheritage-foundationconservative-movementthink-tank-influenceinstitutional-capturedark-money+4 more
Hans von Spakovsky, serving as Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice, led the department’s approval of Georgia’s controversial photo ID law in August 2005 despite unanimous objections from career Justice Department attorneys and …
Hans von SpakovskyDepartment of Justice Civil Rights DivisionGeorgia LegislatureHarold MurphyCareer DOJ Attorneysvoter-suppressionvoting-rights-actdoj-politicizationcivil-rights-rollbackjudicial-oversight+2 more
The Heritage Foundation, cornerstone institution of the Powell Memorandum corporate capture strategy, establishes systematic coordination with the White House Iraq Group to exploit the 9/11 crisis for accelerated implementation of long-term institutional capture objectives. This coordination …
Heritage FoundationWhite House Iraq GroupEdwin FeulnerPaul WeyrichLewis Powell Network+5 morepowell-memorandum-accelerationheritage-foundationwhig-coordinationcrisis-exploitation-templateinstitutional-capture-acceleration+4 more
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) under John Graham implemented new procedures requiring federal agencies to submit proposed regulations to corporate ‘stakeholder panels’ before internal government review. These panels, dominated by industry representatives, gained …
OIRAJohn GrahamCorporate Stakeholder PanelsFederal Agenciesoirainspector-general-firingssystematic-transformationrussell-voughtexecutive-power-expansion+9 more
The Heritage Foundation reached over 100 staff members and a $10 million annual budget by 1983, representing explosive growth during the Reagan administration’s implementation of Heritage policy recommendations. In just six years since Ed Feulner became president in 1977, Heritage had grown …
Heritage FoundationEdwin FeulnerRonald ReaganRichard ScaifeState Policy Network+1 moreheritage-foundationconservative-movementthink-tank-influenceinstitutional-capturedark-money+3 more
By the end of 1981, Paul Weyrich had established the three core institutions that would serve as the infrastructure for conservative movement coordination for the next four decades: Heritage Foundation (policy research), ALEC (state legislation), and CNP (coordination hub).
Weyrich co-founded …
Council for National PolicyHeritage FoundationALECPaul Weyrichcnpconservative-movementheritage-foundationaleccoordination+2 more
Ronald Reagan wins the presidency in a 44-state Electoral College landslide, marking the triumph of the conservative infrastructure deliberately built over nine years in response to the Powell Memo blueprint. Reagan’s victory demonstrates the effectiveness of coordinated institutional power …
Ronald ReaganHeritage FoundationPaul WeyrichEdwin FeulnerEdwin Meese III+2 morereagan-presidencyconservative-movementheritage-foundationpowell-memoelectoral-victory+1 more
Edwin Meese III, senior aide to Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaign, makes a surprise appearance at a Heritage Foundation dinner honoring the team chairmen and co-chairmen working on the “Mandate for Leadership” project, demonstrating direct coordination between the Reagan …
Edwin J. Feulner Jr., co-founder of the Heritage Foundation in 1973, assumed the presidency of the conservative think tank in 1977, beginning what would become a transformative 36-year tenure that built Heritage from a modest Capitol Hill operation with 9 staff members into the preeminent …
Edwin FeulnerHeritage FoundationPaul WeyrichRichard ScaifeJoseph Coors+3 moreheritage-foundationconservative-movementthink-tank-influenceinstitutional-capturedark-money+4 more