This small but influential think tank is charting a controversial course for Trump’s populism

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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@thehill.com.

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Freedom Caucus nonprofit debuts big, beautiful ad

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.

Trump v. Federalist Society

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

On my calendar

  • 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).

Three more things

  1. 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).

What I’m reading