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Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Stephen Miller wages war on the GOP's libertarians
The Movement is a weekly newsletter tracking the influence and debates steering politics on the right. or in the box below. Stephen Miller is leading a public war against the Republican Party's libertarians as he reframes the 'one big, beautiful bill' to being the key that unlocks President Trump's mass deportation agenda. Going mainly after libertarian-leaning lawmakers such as Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who have brought up concerns about the megabill's deficit impact, the White House deputy chief of staff — and chief architect of Trump's immigration agenda — is taking a sledgehammer to what remains of the libertarian-conservative fusionism that was prominent in the party pre-Trump. 'The libertarians in the House and Senate trying to take down this bill — they're not stupid. They just don't care,' Miller said in an interview with conservative activist and commentator Charlie Kirk last week. 'Immigration has never mattered to them; it will never matter to them. Deportations have never mattered to them; it will never matter to them. You will never live a day in your life where a libertarian cares as much about immigration and sovereignty as they do about the Congressional Budget Office.' Miller's personal advocacy for the bill ramped up amid outcry from deficit hawks within Congress and from outside voices like Elon Musk. And while he echoed other top Republicans in denying the Congressional Budget Office's budget math, Miller has particularly focused on one of the legislation's key pillars: the billions of additional dollars to fund construction of the border wall and deportation efforts such as detention facilities, more Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, and transporting deportees. The uprisings by those objecting to deportations that popped in Los Angeles over the weekend — prompting Trump to deploy the National Guard in response — is further fueling Miller's arguments. And there is plenty of polling to explain the strategy: A CBS News poll released Monday, for instance, found 54 percent of Americans approved of Trump's deportation efforts. Miller has explicitly wondered if libertarian-leaning Republicans such as Massie were fighting the bill in order to oppose the deportation program. Massie, calling from the road on his way back to D.C. on Monday, told me that is not the case. 'He and I have the same immigration, deportation, wall policy, with the exception of E-verify. That's the only libertarian objection I have,' Massie said. 'He's appealing to a trope that all libertarians are open borders, and he knows that's not true about me. He and I have spent hours talking, Stephen Miller and I, on these drives to and from D.C. … He's trying to spread some doubt about the messenger, and not my message.' But times are different now. 'He can't be as honest and candid as he was with me when he didn't have Donald Trump as his boss,' Massie said. 'He's got his job is to sell this bill, and he's trying to put lipstick on a pig, and Rand Paul and I are pointing out it's a pig.' Paul again became a Miller target after he told Fox News's Maria Bartiromo on 'Sunday Morning Futures' that the funding Trump administration is seeking for the border wall is 'excessive,' and he would probably do 'half as much' as what he wants for hiring more agents. The border, Paul argued, is 'largely controlled right now,' warning against hiring 'an army of Border Patrol agents that we have on the hook for payments and pensions Miller seethed. 'While ICE officers are battling violent mobs in Los Angeles, Rand Paul is trying to cut funding for deportations and border security,' he posted on the social platform X. A spokesperson for Paul sent me a statement firing back at Miller and the campaign against the libertarian senator. 'Clearly, they are afraid the big, not yet beautiful, bill won't pass. That's why he's being attacked by a pack of rabid paid influencers and the guy that wants to suspend the ancient writ of habeas corpus,' the Paul spokesperson said — making a reference to Miller saying the administration was 'actively looking' at suspending the constitutionally-protected mechanism that migrants have used to challenge their detention by declaring an invasion. 'They've given up arguing on the issue of our time, the debt, and have now descended to lies, innuendo and nonsense,' the Paul spokesperson said. Asked about Miller's digging into libertarians, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson responded: 'Libertarians hate taxes which is why they're going to love The One, Big, Beautiful Bill that gives a 15 percent tax cut to working Americans while totally eliminating taxes on tips and overtime.' Miller's aversion to libertarians, though, seems to go deeper than opportunistic messaging for the bill. He posted in 2022 that the uprising of the ideology in the House GOP is 'how we ended up with open borders globalist [Paul] Ryan.' He blamed libertarian candidates for siphoning votes away from failed Trump-endorsed candidates in 2022 — Herschel Walker in Georgia, Blake Masters in Arizona, and Don Bolduc in New Hampshire. 'Another example of how libertarians ruin everything,' Miller said in one post responding to a 2022 Georgia Senate poll. He did, however, praise Trump's courting of the Libertarian Party — speaking at the minor party's national convention in 2024, and following through with a major campaign promise giving a full pardon to Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the Silk Road drug marketplace. And Massie told me he endorsed Trump to try to help boost the small-L libertarian contingent of the GOP coalition. That coalition, though, has apparently worn out its usefulness to Miller. 'By including the immigration language with the tax cuts with the welfare reform, it creates a coalition. Politics is all about coalitions,' Miller said in the interview with Kirk — also praising Trump in the interview as 'able to create a winning formula for populist, nationalist, conservative government.' Massie sensed the lack of electoral pressure is adding to the willingness to cast the libertarians aside. 'The thing here is that he doesn't have to run again,' Massie said. 'This is one of these signature things. If he has to burn part of the coalition to get it done, they're probably willing to do it.' Alex Nowrasteh, vice president of economic and social policy studies at the Cato Institute – the biggest libertarian think tank in Washington — said Miller's attacks on libertarians are, in one sense, no surprise. But he warned about the political implications that Miller's war has for the right. 'They are not typically long-term thinkers in terms of political coalition,' Nowrasteh said of Trump folks such as Miller, adding that 'this disagreement between Miller and Massie and Paul just shows how sundered that coalition was.' A White House official noted Trump's coalition includes Americans from all different backgrounds, including those who were not Republican voters prior to supporting Trump. , a weekly newsletter looking at the influences and debates on the right in Washington. I'm Emily Brooks, House leadership reporter at The Hill. Tell me what's on your radar: ebrooks@ Not already on the list? Free-marketers are putting their advocacy for extending President Trump's tax cuts into overdrive. The free market group Unleash Prosperity Now came out with a letter signed by 300 economists saying the extension of tax cuts in Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' will 'succeed in making the tax system more pro-growth and fairer,' getting positive shoutouts from Treasury Department Secretary Scott Bessent and a Truth Social share from Trump. Stephen Moore, a former economic adviser to Trump in his first term who co-founded Unleash Prosperity Now, told me the advocacy for the tax cuts is going well — but that GOP leaders' goal of sending it to Trump's desk by Independence Day is likely too ambitious. 'I'd love to see that, but I think there's too many differences right now to get it done by Fourth of July,' Moore told me. And he is 'not pleased' by the House version of the bill hiking up the state and local tax (SALT) deduction from $10,000 to $40,000. 'It's going to have to be negotiated down,' Moore said. 'We're very much in favor of playing hardball with them and saying, 'Look, OK, you want to take the whole party down with you, and you want to vote against a bill that gets 85 percent of your constituents a tax break, go ahead and blow it up,'' Moore said of the SALT-focused blue-state Republicans. Moore also responded to my reporting from last week's edition of about the 'new right' populist think American Compass celebrating its fifth anniversary with Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. 'This is kind of, you know, the big government Republicanism coming back. I view it as a cancer in the party,' Moore said. 'This is a movement that's anti-trade, anti-immigration, pro-union, pro-big-government-spending. Those are all contrary to the very free market freedom policies that binds all Republicans together. It's a movement that's really being funded by the left to try to divide and conquer the Republican Party.' 'The fact that Rubio and JD Vance have associated themselves with that movement is not a positive sign for the future of the party,' Moore added. : , from Fox Business's Eric Revell…President Trump's move to empower Elon Musk after the 2024 election — namely through the meme-inspired Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effort — was met with excitement over the winter, with lawmakers giddy to see Trump's new bestie, the world's richest person (a campaign benefactor for several of them). But now the Musk-Trump falling out over the 'big, beautiful bill' has soured many Republicans on the 'DOGEfather.' If you're a Republican, choosing between Musk and Trump is an easy call (in favor of the president, of course). And it raises questions about the future of the DOGE organizations within Congress. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) had hitched her political wagon to DOGE by chairing a new DOGE subcommittee — and while she needled Musk by condemning 'lashing out on the internet,' she still has high praises for the government efficiency effort. 'I think DOGE is great. Government efficiency is fantastic. It's exactly what we need. And the American people support it, and it must continue. It doesn't have anything to do with with a disagreement on the internet. It has everything to do with the massive $36 trillion in debt,' Greene said. But Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas), a co-chair of the House DOGE Caucus, said the blowup does impact his group's effort. 'It impacts any time there's a casualty on the field,' Sessions told me. Related: , from me and my colleague Mychael Schnell Tuesday, June 10: Americans for Prosperity has a fly-in of state leaders to press Senators to extend the 2017 tax cuts. Wednesday, June 11, 7:05 p.m.: Congressional Baseball Game for Charity Thursday, June 12, 12:00 p.m.: The Cato Institute hosts a policy forum: 'What Is the Opportunity Cost of State AI Policy?' Florida state Sen. Ileana Garcia (R), co-founder of Latinas for Trump, excoriated the president for seeking to ramp up deportation efforts, calling the effort 'unacceptable and inhumane.' She posted on X: 'I understand the importance of deporting criminal aliens, but what we are witnessing are arbitrary measures to hunt down people who are complying with their immigration hearings—in many cases, with credible fear of persecution claims—all driven by a Miller-like desire to satisfy a self-fabricated deportation goal.' A White House spokesperson said in response that deportees receive due process. Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.) misidentified a Sikh as a Muslim while saying it was 'deeply disturbing' that the turban-wearing guest chaplain delivered the opening prayer in the House on Friday. She later deleted the post, but said: 'America was founded as a Christian nation, and I believe our government should reflect that truth, not drift further from it.' Derek Guy, the man behind the @dieworkwear account on X that posts commentary on men's fashion, revealed he arrived in the U.S. as an immigrant without legal status, having been brought over the border with Canada by his parents when he was a baby — prompting teasing from Republicans who have often been the target of his commentary. Vice President Vance responded with an approving meme to a post that suggested he now had 'the opportunity to do the funniest thing ever.' Guy responded with a jab at Vance's outfits: 'I think i can outrun you in these clothes.' Spectator World's Kara Kennedy: The rise of Eric Trump Wall Street Journal's Joshua Chaffin: The Other Nasty Breakup Inside MAGA The Hill's Zach Schonfeld and Ella Lee: Trump unleashes MAGA rebellion on Federalist Society Axios's Scott Rosenberg: Silicon Valley's not crying for Musk Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
a day ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Stephen Miller wages war on the GOP's libertarians
The Movement is a weekly newsletter tracking the influence and debates steering politics on the right. Sign up here or in the box below. Thank you for signing up! Subscribe to more newsletters here Stephen Miller is leading a public war against the Republican party's libertarians as he reframes the 'one big beautiful bill' to being the key that unlocks President Trump's mass deportation agenda. Going mainly after libertarian-leaning lawmakers like Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who have brought up concerns about the megabill's deficit impact, the White House deputy chief of staff — and chief architect of Trump's immigration agenda — is taking a sledgehammer to what remains of the libertarian-conservative fusionism that was prominent in the party pre-Trump. 'The libertarians in the House and Senate trying to take down this bill — they're not stupid. They just don't care,' Miller said in an interview with conservative activist and commentator Charlie Kirk last week. 'Immigration has never mattered to them, it will never matter to them, deportations have never mattered to them, it will never matter to them. You will never live a day in your life where a libertarian cares as much about immigration and sovereignty as they do about the Congressional Budget Office.' Miller's personal advocacy for the bill ramped up amid outcry from deficit hawks within Congress and from outside voices like Elon Musk. And while he echoed other top Republicans in denying the CBO budget math, Miller has particularly focused on one of the legislation's key pillars: The billions of additional dollars to fund construction of the border wall and deportation efforts such as detention facilities, more ICE officers, and transporting deportees. The uprisings by those objecting to deportations that popped in Los Angeles over the weekend — prompting Trump to deploy the National Guard in response — is further fueling Miller's arguments. And there is plenty of polling to explain the strategy: A CBS News poll released Monday, for instance, found 54 percent of Americans approved of Trump's deportation efforts. Miller has explicitly wondered if libertarian-leaning Republicans like Massie were fighting the bill in order to oppose the deportation program. Massie, calling from the road on his way back to D.C. on Monday, told me that is not the case. 'He and I have the same immigration, deportation, wall policy, with the exception of E-verify. That's the only libertarian objection I have,' Massie said. 'He's appealing to a trope that all libertarians are open borders, and he knows that's not true about me. He and I have spent hours talking, Stephen Miller and I, on these drives to and from DC …. He's trying to spread some doubt about the messenger, and not my message.' But times are different now. 'He can't be as honest and candid as he was with me when he didn't Donald Trump as his boss,' Massie said. 'He's got his job is to sell this bill, and he's trying to put lipstick on a pig, and Rand Paul and I are pointing out it's a pig.' Paul again became a Miller target after he told Fox News's Maria Bartiromo on 'Sunday Morning Futures' that the funding Trump administration is seeking for the border wall is 'excessive' and he would probably do 'half as much' as what he wants for hiring more agents. The border, Paul argued, is 'largely controlled right now,' warning against hiring 'an army of border patrol agents that we have on the hook for payments and pensions Miller seethed. 'While ICE officers are battling violent mobs in Los Angeles, Rand Paul is trying to cut funding for deportations and border security,' he posted on X. A spokesperson for Paul sent me a statement firing back at Miller and the campaign against the libertarian senator. 'Clearly, they are afraid the big, not yet beautiful, bill won't pass. That's why he's being attacked by a pack of rabid paid influencers and the guy that wants to suspend the ancient writ of habeas corpus,' the Paul spokesperson said — making a reference to Miller saying the administration was 'actively looking' at suspending the constitutionally-protected mechanism that migrants have used to challenge their detention by declaring an invasion. 'They've given up arguing on the issue of our time, the debt, and have now descended to lies, innuendo and nonsense,' the Paul spokesperson said. Asked about Miller's digging into libertarians, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson responded: 'Libertarians hate taxes which is why they're going to love The One, Big, Beautiful Bill that gives a 15 percent tax cut to working Americans while totally eliminating taxes on tips and overtime.' Miller's aversion to libertarians, though, seems to go deeper than opportunistic messaging for the bill. He posted in 2022 that the uprising of the ideology in the House GOP is 'how we ended up with open borders globalist [Paul] Ryan.' He blamed libertarian candidates for siphoning votes away from failed Trump-endorsed candidates in 2022 — Hershel Walker in Georgia, Blake Masters in Arizona, and Don Bolduc in New Hampshire. 'Another example of how libertarians ruin everything,' Miller said in one post responding to a 2022 Georgia Senate poll. He did, however, praise Trump's courting of the Libertarian Party — speaking at the minor party's national convention in 2024, and following through with a major campaign promise giving a full pardon to Ross Ulbrict, the founder of the Silk Road drug marketplace. And Massie told me he endorsed Trump to try to help boost the small-L libertarian contingent of the GOP coalition. That coalition, though, has apparently worn out its usefulness to Miller. 'By including the immigration language with the tax cuts with the welfare reform, it creates a coalition. Politics is all about coalitions,' Miller said in the interview with Kirk — also praising Trump in the interview as 'able to create a winning formula for populist, nationalist, conservative government.' Massie sensed that the lack of electoral pressure is adding to the willingness to cast the libertarians aside. 'The thing here is that he doesn't have to run again,' Massie said. 'This is one of these signature things. If he has to burn part of the coalition to get it done, they're probably willing to do it.' Alex Nowrasteh, vice president of economic and social policy studies at the Cato Institute – the biggest libertarian think tank in Washington — said that Miller's attacks on libertarians are, in one sense, no surprise. But he warned about the political implications that Miller's war has for the right. 'They are not typically long term thinkers in terms of political coalition,' Nowrasteh said of Trump folks like Miller, adding that 'this disagreement between Miller and Massie and Paul just shows how sundered that coalition was.' A White House official noted that Trump's coalition includes Americans from all different backgrounds, including those who were not Republican voters prior to supporting Trump. Welcome to The Movement, a weekly newsletter looking at the influences and debates on the right in Washington. I'm Emily Brooks, House leadership reporter at The Hill. Tell me what's on your radar: ebrooks@ Not already on the list? Subscribe here Free-marketers are putting their advocacy for extending President Trump's tax cuts into overdrive. The free market group Unleash Prosperity Now came out with a letter signed by 300 economists saying that the extension of tax cuts in Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' will 'succeed in making the tax system more pro-growth and fairer,' getting positive shout-outs from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and a Truth Social share from Trump. Stephen Moore, a former economic adviser to Trump in his first term who co-founded Unleash Prosperity Now, told me that the advocacy for the tax cuts is going well — but that GOP leaders' goal of sending it to Trump's desk by Independence Day is likely too ambitious. 'I'd love to see that, but I think there's too many differences right now to get it done by Fourth of July,' Moore told me. And he is 'not pleased' by the House version of the bill hiking up the state and local tax (SALT) deduction from $10,000 to $40,000. 'It's going to have to be negotiated down,' Moore said. 'We're very much in favor of playing hardball with them and saying, 'Look, okay, you want to take the whole party down with you, and you want to vote against a bill that gets 85% of your constituents a tax break, go ahead and blow it up,'' Moore said of the SALT-focused blue-state Republicans. Moore also responded to my reporting from last week's edition of The Movement about the 'new right' populist think American Compass celebrating its fifth anniversary with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. 'This is kind of, you know, the big government Republicanism coming back. I view it as a cancer in the party,' Moore said. 'This is a movement that's anti-trade, anti-immigration, pro-union, pro-big-government spending. Those are all contrary to the very free market freedom policies that binds all Republicans together. It's a movement that's really being funded by the left to try to divide and conquer the Republican Party.' 'The fact that Rubio and JD Vance have associated themselves with that movement is not a positive sign for the future of the party,' Moore added. Related: Over 300 economists urge Trump, GOP leaders to extend tax cuts before massive tax hike hits Americans, from Fox Business's Eric Revell… Last week's newsletter on American Compass and my interview with founder Oren Cass… President Trump's move to empower Elon Musk after the 2024 election — namely through the meme-inspired Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effort — was met with excitement over the winter, with lawmakers giddy to see Trump's new bestie, the world's richest man (a campaign benefactor for several of them). But now the Musk-Trump falling out over the 'big, beautiful bill' has soured many Republicans on the 'DOGEfather.' If you're a Republican, choosing between Musk and Trump is an easy call (in favor of the president, of course). And it raises questions about the future of the DOGE organizations within Congress. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) had hitched her political wagon to DOGE by chairing a new DOGE subcommittee — and while she needled Musk buy condemning 'lashing out on the internet,' she still has high praises for the government efficiency effort. 'I think DOGE is great. Government efficiency is fantastic. It's exactly what we need. And the American people support it, and it must continue. It doesn't have anything to do with with a disagreement on the internet. It has everything to do with the massive $36 trillion in debt,' Greene said. But Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas), a co-chair of the House DOGE Caucus, said the blow-up does impact his group's effort. 'It impacts anytime there's a casualty on the field,' Sessions told me. Related: Elon Musk's stock plummets among Republicans, from me and my colleague Mychael Schnell
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
John Cena shockingly makes light of R-Truth's WWE exit
The post John Cena shockingly makes light of R-Truth's WWE exit appeared first on ClutchPoints. When news broke that WWE was going to allow R-Truth's contract to expire and effectively end his run with the company, it hit fans, young and old, hard. Advertisement One of the more entertaining workers to ever step foot in a squared circle, Truth had huge angles, down periods, and a solid chapter of time where he did nothing more than pursue, win, and defend the 24/7 Championship, but through ti all, he kept a smile on his and fans' faces. How, fans wondered, could R-Truth announce his exit from WWE when he'd just worked a WWE Championship match with John Cena on national television? Well, while that decision has remained a heavy topic of conversation, Cena, ever in his heel phase, used it to his advantage, taking the fans' 'We want R-Truth' chants and turning it around, louding telling fans they were hypocrites for requesting the truth when they are filled with nothing but lies. On paper, good effort from Cena to figure out how to turn this chant on its head, as, to paraphrase The Movement in their tweet, the chants were loud as all get out, but choosing to make light of the exit of a man he's worked with for years and years? Even a heel like Cena has to acknowledge that such a response would be viewed in poor taste, even if it was ad-libbed. Advertisement Now granted, any fans in the know will know that Cena and Truth are at least on good terms, if not friends, as the former sent a shoutout to the latter on social media when the news broke, but in professional wrestling, when fans throw you a softball, it's only right for a heel to hit it out of the park, right? For better or worse, Cena did that… even if, in the end, it will only make the chants grow louder at Money in the Bank the following day in Los Angeles. Related: WWE Money in the Bank 2025: March card and bold predictions Related: WWE news: Ric Flair confirms second cancer diagnosis in 3 years
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
This small but influential think tank is charting a controversial course for Trump's populism
The Movement is a weekly newsletter tracking the influence and debates steering politics on the right. or in the box below. Controversial think tank American Compass is working to make sure President Trump's economic populism lasts well beyond his term — infuriating segments of the conservative establishment along the way. Oren Cass, the group's founder and chief economist, argues against 'market fundamentalism' while pushing for protectionist tariffs, tax hikes on the rich and a new 'conservative labor movement.' The efforts have angered the conservative free-market establishment. Americans for Tax Reform had interns hand out leaflets outside an American Compass Capitol Hill event last summer comparing it and Cass to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Club for Growth President David McIntosh fumed in a statement last year: 'Self-proclaimed 'conservative' Oren Cass and his American Compass is not, and will never be, viewed as a legitimate voice in Republican policy circles.' Yet American Compass policies look a lot like policies Trump has enacted or considered, and the group has punched above its weight in cultivating powerful GOP allies — including Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, both of whom Trump has said could lead the MAGA movement after he is gone. Both Vance and Rubio are speaking at its fifth anniversary gala Tuesday evening. '[Trump] really opened up the space for people to recognize that the old Reagan-style consensus had expired, and certainly has validated that other approaches can be more successful,' Cass told me in an interview. And as for the critics, Cass puts them into two categories. Some, like those at the libertarian Cato Institute and conservative American Enterprise Institute, are 'thoughtful scholars who are working from their principles and have disagreements with us on all sorts of issues.' Others, Cass said, are simply activist groups who are 'not really ideas-oriented' and are 'closer to lobbying firms for some particular policy or point of view.' 'They don't use evidence. They just sort of assert an attack and belittle and try to enforce their point of view that way,' Cass said. 'I guess they're welcome to do it if they want. But I think the proof is in kind of how that's working out for them. It's not working out at all.' Take, for example, Trump and Republicans being willing to even consider tax hikes as part of the 'big, beautiful bill's' tax cuts and spending priorities — even though it did not make it in the final version. Cass, who was policy director for Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign, recalled every candidate in a 2011 GOP primary debate declining to support a legislative package that had $10 of spending cuts for every $1 of tax increases. 'The tax debate has been a great illustration of the way that things have been shifting there. There was absolutely a time when people thought, 'Oh, you just can't say you would consider raising taxes, that's somehow not allowed,'' Cass said. Club for Growth's McIntosh, though, cast the rejection of the tax increase idea as a failure for American Compass: 'Despite his best efforts, Oren Cass and his far-left benefactors failed to enact a top rate tax increase,' McIntosh said in a statement to me. Now that it's 5 years old, the American Compass staff of around 10 recently moved from a converted yoga studio into a real office space. Today it is releasing 'The New Conservatives,' a book of essays and 'manifestos' detailing the group's orthodoxy-breaking positions. And earlier this year, it launched a new commentary magazine, Commonplace. Its budget only recently passed $2 million, Cass writes — a tiny fraction of the tens or hundreds of millions that other conservative Washington think tanks have to work with. But he told me that American Compass does not strive to be 'the biggest organization with the biggest marble building in Washington.' 'We kind of like being the special forces team,' Cass said. 'I would like to continue playing that role.' And while Cass certainly wants to see success during the Trump administration and support his populist instincts, he says the group tries to keep 'at least half our focus' on where conservatism and economic policy is going over the next 10 or 20 years. A core part of that endeavor is American Compass's membership group of more than 250 policy professionals, which include dozens of staffers who are working in the Trump administration, along with Capitol Hill staffers of all levels, according to Cass. 'People at the top of a party come and go, but in many ways, more importantly, as an entire new generation of people rises to be the core of the movement,' Cass said. Poking around in conservative circles and beyond, I found incredibly mixed opinions about the young think tank. But people with power are clearly listening — even if they're not fully embracing its populism. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) texted me this assessment of American Compass: 'I think they understand the line between corporate cronyism and free enterprise … the need to build our institutions. And civil society. I agree with that — even if I don't agree with some reflexive populist policies.' , a weekly newsletter looking at the influences and debates on the right in Washington. I'm Emily Brooks, House leadership reporter at The Hill. Tell me your thoughts about American Compass and the 'New Right': ebrooks@ Not already on the list? A House Freedom Caucus-affiliated nonprofit has flown under the radar since it formed — but is now making a splash as it pushes for Trump's tax cut and spending bill. The Freedom Caucus Foundation, classified as a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization, debuted its first ad that ran on Fox News and on digital last week giving credit to the hard-line conservatives for pushing the bill in a more conservative direction. 'The House Freedom Caucus bargained hard, took the arrows, ignored the insults and didn't back down — improving President Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' to put deficit reduction first,' the ad said. It noted the group's push for at least $1.5 trillion in spending cuts; bumping up the start date for Medicaid work requirements from 2026 to 2029; accelerating rollback of green energy tax credits; and barring Medicaid funds from being spent on gender-affirming care, among other provisions. Trump shared the video on Truth Social, praising the message: 'Congratulations to ALL on a job well done. Proud of you! Hopefully the Senate will be there with you!' Allison Weisenberger, who heads the Freedom Caucus Foundation, told me the video has been viewed 10 million times. 'We look forward to continuing to educate millions of Americans on the Freedom Agenda,' she said. The ad is also notable in showing the expanding web of organizations supporting the hard-line conservative group and its brand. The Freedom Caucus already has an affiliated PAC, called the House Freedom Fund, which is a good source for figuring out the candidates likely to be the caucus's next members. And it has launched the State Freedom Caucus Network, which focuses on building hard-line conservative factions in state legislatures. The Freedom Caucus is not alone in having allied outside groups. The Main Street Caucus of 'pragmatic' House Republicans, for instance, is allied with the Republican Main Street Partnership, an outside 501(c)4 activist group; Republican Main Street Partnership PAC; and Defending Main Street Super PAC. President Trump's fissure with the Federalist Society reached a new low point late last week when he went after Leonard Leo, a key architect of the group and Trump's judicial picks in his first term. 'I was new to Washington, and it was suggested that I use The Federalist Society as a recommending source on Judges,' Trump wrote on Truth Social. 'I did so, openly and freely, but then realized that they were under the thumb of a real 'sleazebag' named Leonard Leo, a bad person who, in his own way, probably hates America, and obviously has his own separate ambitions.' The comments came after the U.S. Court of International Trade — with a panel of three judges, one appointed by Trump — blocked the bulk of Trump's tariffs. An appeals court lifted the order later. Leo responded in a statement to my colleague Zach Schonfeld: 'I'm very grateful for President Trump transforming the Federal Courts, and it was a privilege being involved. There's more work to be done, for sure, but the Federal Judiciary is better than it's ever been in modern history, and that will be President Trump's most important legacy.'Tuesday, June 3: American Compass hosts 'The New World Gala' featuring Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the National Building Museum, 5:30 p.m. Thursday, June 5: The American Enterprise Institute hosts a conversation with Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) on 'Emerging Technologies and Strategic Competition,' 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 17: The Federalist Society DC Young Lawyers Chapter hosts a reception with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Americans for Prosperity launched a $4 million June ad buy to boost support for extending the Trump tax cuts as the Senate takes up the 'big, beautiful bill,' urging swift passage. The ads are airing on digital, cable and TV, and they feature testimonials from small business owners, retirees, and veterans praising tax cuts. And in a nod to senators squeamish about the bill's deficit impact, one ad pushes for further elimination of Biden-era green tax credits. Tributes rolled in across MAGA World and beyond for Bernard Kerik, the former New York City police commissioner who oversaw the response to 9/11, following his death last week. Trump pardoned Kerik in 2020 for tax evasion and making false statements that he pleaded guilty to in 2009. Richard Grenell, Matt Schlapp, Alina Habba, Lee Greenwood, and Rudy Giuliani were among those who posted memorials. Students for Life Action announced the 12 Republican senators it is targeting as it advocates for keeping the 'Defund Planned Parenthood' provision in the GOP's megabill. The senators range from the organization's friends to its sometime foes, running the gamut of scores on its 'pro-life generation report card,' who may not support the bill: Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia (B-); Susan Collins of Maine (F); Ron Johnson of Wisconsin (B); Mike Lee of Utah (A); Mitch McConnell of Kentucky (B+); Lisa Murkowski of Alaska (F); Rand Paul of Kentucky (B-); Rick Scott of Florida (A+); Dan Sullivan of Alaska (C); Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota (A); Thom Tillis of North Carolina (B+); and Todd Young of Indiana (C). WIRED's Jake Lahut: Trumpworld Is Getting Tired of Laura Loomer. They Hope the President Is Too New York Times's Robert Draper: How Butterworth's Became the New Scene in Trump's Washington Washington Post's Paul Kane: These Kentucky Republicans attempt an unlikely bulwark to Trump RealClearPolitics's Susan Crabtree: CA High School Could Test Trump's 'Anti-Indoctrination Order' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. 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The Hill
03-06-2025
- Business
- The Hill
This small but influential think tank is charting a controversial course for Trump's populism
The Movement is a weekly newsletter tracking the influence and debates steering politics on the right. Sign up here or in the box below. Thank you for signing up! Subscribe to more newsletters here Controversial think tank American Compass is working to make sure President Trump's economic populism lasts well beyond his term — infuriating segments of the conservative establishment along the way. Oren Cass, the group's founder and chief economist, argues against 'market fundamentalism' while pushing for protectionist tariffs, tax hikes on the rich and a new 'conservative labor movement.' The efforts have angered the conservative free-market establishment. Americans for Tax Reform had interns hand out leaflets outside an American Compass Capitol Hill event last summer comparing it and Cass to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Club for Growth President David McIntosh fumed in a statement last year: 'Self-proclaimed 'conservative' Oren Cass and his American Compass is not, and will never be, viewed as a legitimate voice in Republican policy circles.' Yet American Compass policies look a lot like policies Trump has enacted or considered, and the group has punched above its weight in cultivating powerful GOP allies — including Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, both of whom Trump has said could lead the MAGA movement after he is gone. Both Vance and Rubio are speaking at its fifth anniversary gala Tuesday evening. '[Trump] really opened up the space for people to recognize that the old Reagan-style consensus had expired, and certainly has validated that other approaches can be more successful,' Cass told me in an interview. And as for the critics, Cass puts them into two categories. Some, like those at the libertarian Cato Institute and conservative American Enterprise Institute, are 'thoughtful scholars who are working from their principles and have disagreements with us on all sorts of issues.' Others, Cass said, are simply activist groups who are 'not really ideas-oriented' and are 'closer to lobbying firms for some particular policy or point of view.' 'They don't use evidence. They just sort of assert an attack and belittle and try to enforce their point of view that way,' Cass said. 'I guess they're welcome to do it if they want. But I think the proof is in kind of how that's working out for them. It's not working out at all.' Take, for example, Trump and Republicans being willing to even consider tax hikes as part of the 'big, beautiful bill's' tax cuts and spending priorities — even though it did not make it in the final version. Cass, who was policy director for Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign, recalled every candidate in a 2011 GOP primary debate declining to support a legislative package that had $10 of spending cuts for every $1 of tax increases. 'The tax debate has been a great illustration of the way that things have been shifting there. There was absolutely a time when people thought, 'Oh, you just can't say you would consider raising taxes, that's somehow not allowed,'' Cass said. Club for Growth's McIntosh, though, cast the rejection of the tax increase idea as a failure for American Compass: 'Despite his best efforts, Oren Cass and his far-left benefactors failed to enact a top rate tax increase,' McIntosh said in a statement to me. Now that it's 5 years old, the American Compass staff of around 10 recently moved from a converted yoga studio into a real office space. Today it is releasing 'The New Conservatives,' a book of essays and 'manifestos' detailing the group's orthodoxy-breaking positions. And earlier this year, it launched a new commentary magazine, Commonplace. Its budget only recently passed $2 million, Cass writes — a tiny fraction of the tens or hundreds of millions that other conservative Washington think tanks have to work with. But he told me that American Compass does not strive to be 'the biggest organization with the biggest marble building in Washington.' 'We kind of like being the special forces team,' Cass said. 'I would like to continue playing that role.' And while Cass certainly wants to see success during the Trump administration and support his populist instincts, he says the group tries to keep 'at least half our focus' on where conservatism and economic policy is going over the next 10 or 20 years. A core part of that endeavor is American Compass's membership group of more than 250 policy professionals, which include dozens of staffers who are working in the Trump administration, along with Capitol Hill staffers of all levels, according to Cass. 'People at the top of a party come and go, but in many ways, more importantly, as an entire new generation of people rises to be the core of the movement,' Cass said. Poking around in conservative circles and beyond, I found incredibly mixed opinions about the young think tank. But people with power are clearly listening — even if they're not fully embracing its populism. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) texted me this assessment of American Compass: 'I think they understand the line between corporate cronyism and free enterprise … the need to build our institutions. And civil society. I agree with that — even if I don't agree with some reflexive populist policies.' Welcome to The Movement, a weekly newsletter looking at the influences and debates on the right in Washington. I'm Emily Brooks, House leadership reporter at The Hill. Tell me your thoughts about American Compass and the 'New Right': ebrooks@ Not already on the list? Subscribe here A House Freedom Caucus-affiliated nonprofit has flown under the radar since it formed — but is now making a splash as it pushes for Trump's tax cut and spending bill. The Freedom Caucus Foundation, classified as a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization, debuted its first ad that ran on Fox News and on digital last week giving credit to the hard-line conservatives for pushing the bill in a more conservative direction. 'The House Freedom Caucus bargained hard, took the arrows, ignored the insults and didn't back down — improving President Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' to put deficit reduction first,' the ad said. It noted the group's push for at least $1.5 trillion in spending cuts; bumping up the start date for Medicaid work requirements from 2026 to 2029; accelerating rollback of green energy tax credits; and barring Medicaid funds from being spent on gender-affirming care, among other provisions. Trump shared the video on Truth Social, praising the message: 'Congratulations to ALL on a job well done. Proud of you! Hopefully the Senate will be there with you!' Allison Weisenberger, who heads the Freedom Caucus Foundation, told me the video has been viewed 10 million times. 'We look forward to continuing to educate millions of Americans on the Freedom Agenda,' she said. The ad is also notable in showing the expanding web of organizations supporting the hard-line conservative group and its brand. The Freedom Caucus already has an affiliated PAC, called the House Freedom Fund, which is a good source for figuring out the candidates likely to be the caucus's next members. And it has launched the State Freedom Caucus Network, which focuses on building hard-line conservative factions in state legislatures. The Freedom Caucus is not alone in having allied outside groups. The Main Street Caucus of 'pragmatic' House Republicans, for instance, is allied with the Republican Main Street Partnership, an outside 501(c)4 activist group; Republican Main Street Partnership PAC; and Defending Main Street Super PAC. President Trump's fissure with the Federalist Society reached a new low point late last week when he went after Leonard Leo, a key architect of the group and Trump's judicial picks in his first term. 'I was new to Washington, and it was suggested that I use The Federalist Society as a recommending source on Judges,' Trump wrote on Truth Social. 'I did so, openly and freely, but then realized that they were under the thumb of a real 'sleazebag' named Leonard Leo, a bad person who, in his own way, probably hates America, and obviously has his own separate ambitions.' The comments came after the U.S. Court of International Trade — with a panel of three judges, one appointed by Trump — blocked the bulk of Trump's tariffs. An appeals court lifted the order later. Leo responded in a statement to my colleague Zach Schonfeld: 'I'm very grateful for President Trump transforming the Federal Courts, and it was a privilege being involved. There's more work to be done, for sure, but the Federal Judiciary is better than it's ever been in modern history, and that will be President Trump's most important legacy.' Further reading: Inside the split between MAGA and the Federalist Society, by Politico's Hailey Fuchs and Daniel Barnes
