policy evolution

The Long Game: Conservative Infrastructure (1971-2025)

Arc of conservative movement infrastructure built across five decades: from the Powell Memo (1971) through Heritage, the Federalist Society, ALEC, Citizens United, Project 2025, and Trump Day 1 implementation in 2025.

Aug 23, 1971Main

Lewis Powell circulates memo urging U.S. Chamber of Commerce to build political infrastructure

Corporate lawyer and future Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell sent a confidential memorandum to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce urging corporate America to build a coordinated political infrastructure. Powell called for funding conservative think tanks, placing corporate representatives on university boards and media outlets, and mounting a sustained legal and political challenge to liberal governance. The memo remained confidential until after Powell's Senate confirmation to the Supreme Court in December 1971.

Feb 16, 1973Main

Coors funds the founding of the Heritage Foundation

Edwin Feulner and Paul Weyrich founded the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., with an initial $250,000 grant from Joseph Coors of the Coors Brewing Company. Unlike existing think tanks that prioritized academic research and long publication cycles, Heritage was designed to produce rapid-response policy papers timed to congressional debates. Its first major product, the 1980 "Mandate for Leadership," provided Reagan's transition team with over 2,000 policy recommendations, roughly 60% of which were implemented within his first year.

Jan 15, 1982Main

Law students found the Federalist Society at Yale Law School

Law students at Yale, the University of Chicago, and Harvard Law School co-founded the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, with seed funding from the Scaife and Olin Foundations. The organization was designed to recruit and develop conservative and originalist legal thinkers at elite law schools and build a pipeline to the federal judiciary. By 2023, six of nine sitting Supreme Court justices were members or had strong ties to the organization.

Jul 26, 1995Main

ALEC adopts a model right-to-work act at its annual meeting

The American Legislative Exchange Council adopted its model Right-to-Work Act at its 1995 annual meeting, codifying template language that bars unions from negotiating contracts requiring workers to join or pay fees as a condition of employment. The model spread through ALEC's network of state legislators and corporate task force members, who produced roughly 1,000 bills per year with about 200 enacted. The 1995 adoption seeded a wave of state right-to-work statutes adopted over the following two decades, most notably in Indiana (2012), Michigan (2012), Wisconsin (2015), and West Virginia (2016).

Jan 21, 2010Main

Supreme Court opens unlimited corporate campaign spending in Citizens United v. FEC

The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that the First Amendment prohibits the government from restricting independent political expenditures by corporations, associations, and labor unions. The majority opinion, written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, held that political speech does not lose constitutional protection simply because its source is a corporation. Justice John Paul Stevens wrote a 90-page dissent warning the ruling would corrupt democratic governance. Dark money spending in federal elections exceeded $1 billion in the decade following the decision.

Apr 21, 2023Main

Heritage Publishes Project 2025 Mandate for Leadership

The Heritage Foundation released "Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise," the ninth edition of its presidential transition guide and the flagship policy document of Project 2025. Edited by Paul Dans and Steven Groves, the roughly 900-page volume drew on more than 35 primary authors and a coalition of over 100 partner organizations. Heritage president Kevin Roberts wrote the foreword and distributed the book at Heritage's Leadership Summit at National Harbor, Maryland, framing it as a ready-to-implement blueprint for the next Republican administration.

Oct 15, 2024Main

Miriam Adelson donates $106 million to pro-Trump super PAC

Miriam Adelson, Israeli-American casino magnate and widow of Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson, donated $106 million to the Preserve America super PAC supporting Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. The contribution was the single largest known individual donation to a presidential campaign in US history. Adelson built her political influence through the Las Vegas Sands casino empire, which had extensive business interests in Israel and Macau.

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Jan 20, 2025Main

Trump signs day-one orders implementing the Project 2025 workforce plan

On his first day of the second term, Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14171 ("Restoring Accountability to Policy-Influencing Positions Within the Federal Workforce"), reinstating Schedule F to strip civil service protections from career employees in policy roles. He paired it with Executive Order 14151 ("Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing"), a presidential memorandum freezing federal civilian hiring across the executive branch, and a return-to-office order ending remote work. Together the actions implemented the federal workforce restructuring proposed in Project 2025's Mandate for Leadership less than 21 months after publication.

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Jul 7, 2025Main

IRS agrees churches can endorse candidates without losing tax-exempt status

The IRS filed a court document in the Eastern District of Texas on July 7, 2025 as part of a proposed consent judgment settling a lawsuit by National Religious Broadcasters and two Texas churches. The decree stated that when a house of worship speaks to its congregation through customary channels during a religious gathering, the IRS would not revoke 501(c)(3) status for discussing electoral politics through a religious lens. The Johnson Amendment remained law, but the IRS agreed not to enforce it against churches — achieving through administrative action what Congress had declined to do.

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Oct 13, 2025Main

Trump credits Miriam Adelson with shaping his Israel policy in a Knesset address

President Trump addressed a special session of the Israeli Knesset on October 13, 2025, the first US presidential address to the Israeli parliament since 1995. During his remarks, Trump praised Miriam Adelson, who sat in the Knesset gallery, crediting her with shaping his views on Middle East policy including the Golan Heights and the return of hostages from Gaza. Trump joked that Adelson visits the White House more than anyone else and gestured to her $60 billion fortune.

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May 26, 2026Main

Paxton defeats Cornyn in the Texas Senate runoff despite a 17-to-1 spending deficit

Ken Paxton defeated incumbent Senator John Cornyn in the Texas Republican Senate runoff, winning approximately 57 percent of the vote despite being outspent 17-to-1 in the runoff alone. Cornyn spent more than $50 million in the runoff to Paxton's roughly $3 million, yet lost by a double-digit margin. The result ended Cornyn's 24-year Senate career and marked the first time a sitting senator with a leadership-tier record had been defeated in a primary by a Trump-endorsed challenger.

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