Pence’s advocacy group finds its footing in Trump’s second term

Former Vice President Mike Pence’s advocacy organization, Advancing American Freedom, is seeking to find the right balance during President Trump’s second term.

So far, it’s made a splash in being one of the few conservative organizations to publicly oppose Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation, and it’s torn into Trump’s proposed tariffs.

But at the same time, it doesn’t want to fall into being “Never Trump” – a category that would get it largely dismissed by the bulk of the right.

“It can sound, at times, like it's adversarial. We don't intend for it to be adversarial. We intend for it to be entirely independent,” said Tim Chapman, president of Advancing American Freedom. “We intend for it to be something that, when functioning, can really, actually make the administration better.”

I talked to Chapman about that strategic challenge: How do you critique a president with whom the founder had a major falling out (for those who need a reminder: January 6th, Pence’s presidential bid, Pence declining to endorse Trump) — while also maintaining influence among the right in Trump’s Washington?

The headwinds go beyond the personal bad blood between Trump and Pence. Advancing American Freedom is holding to traditional, Reagan-eque conservatism, publicly rejecting populist instincts on economics and trade while being highly skeptical of new alliances with former Democrats.

“We're obviously in a populist age, and there is a lot about populism on the right that's being commended and is good. But there's also parts of the populist right that really are veering from where conservatives have been for so long on issues that are really important, whether they're national security issues, or whether it's a strong economy, or even some areas in the in the socially social conservative sphere,” Chapman said.

The majority of other organizations on the right, meanwhile, have either embraced those aspects of Trumpism or kept their critiques to themselves.

“A lot of groups that used to exist as independent, outside entities that kind of advised Republican leadership on conservative policy, have ceased to be those kind of independent, outside entities,” Chapman said. “And a lot of them have adopted a framework more of cheerleading what the administration is doing, no matter what the particular policy is.”

Not Advancing American Freedom. The organization advocated against Kennedy’s confirmation based largely on concerns with how he would handle abortion issues. In one letter to senators, the group called on them to “reject the nomination of any pro-abortion nominees to serve at HHS.”

Last week, it launched a project tracking the status of Trump’s many announced tariffs — and including the organization’s overwhelmingly critical position on each proposal.

Pence himself has been getting more vocal in pushing back at Trump, too.

Here’s one example: In an swipe at the market downturn reaction to Trump’s tariffs, Pence posted a screenshot comparing the increase in the S&P 500 in Trump’s first term and its decline in his second term, flaunting that the “Trump-Pence” administration’s economic policies “without broad based Tariffs” encouraged growth – “worked for America before and will again!”

And in a speech in North Palm Beach, Fla. last week, Pence drew a contrast with Trump on sending aid to Ukraine, CBS 12 News reported.

“For me, the decision, ultimately, is grounded in the fact that I have no doubt that if Vladimir Putin overruns Ukraine, it's only a matter of time before he crosses a border that our men and women in uniform are going to have to go fight him," Pence said. "We need to continue to stand firm.”

Pence leaned in on building his organization after his presidential run and is focused on being “a constructive part of the dialog,” Chapman said.

But the former vice president’s organization is sure to applaud some efforts of the Trump administration, too.

Last week, it endorsed a project launched by the Republican Study Committee, the largest conservative caucus in the House, to codify Trump’s executive actions into law.

Paul Teller, Executive Vice President of Advancing American Freedom and former RSC Executive Director, said in a statement: “Let's set into statute the great initiatives to shrink spending, kill regulations, and otherwise recede the federal government from the everyday lives of Americans.”

But Chapman sees risks in the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) extreme government-slashing efforts: “It needs to not only shine a light on the areas where we can get better bang for our buck and where we can cut spending, but then it has to tee those areas up for Congress to act. And I'm worried that it's doing a great job on the former, but not a very good job on the latter objective yet.”

The “euphoria” of Trump’s new administration, Chapman said, is the political reality right now – but he does not see it as a permanent environment.

“Just because there's an unwillingness right now to kind of throw a warning sign on some of these policies from a lot of politicians, does not mean that there is not a need for it from outside entities that have the ability to be independent and to call balls and strikes,” Chapman said. “And so we're trying to fill that void.”

I’m Emily Brooks, House reporter at The Hill, here with a weekly look at the wider right-wing ecosystem, influences and debates in Washington, D.C. Let me know what you’re about to launch, what is on your calendar, and who is making moves: ebrooks@thehill.com

JFK POSTING FRENZY — Soon after the Trump administration released a dump of files on former President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, a single page from an internal memo went viral in conservative circles on social media. It described a former intelligence agent named Gary Underhill had allegedly told people that “a small clique within the CIA was responsible for the assassination,” and was later found dead in his apartment in what authorities deemed a suicide.

A who’s who of conservative media influencers — Charlie Kirk, Tim Pool, Liz Wheeler, Alex Lorusso, Nick Sortor, Colin Rugg, and more — breathlessly shared the screenshot, even as some admitted they did not understand the context.

The problem? The allegations are nearly 60 years old. The memo was quoting an article from the 1967 issue of Ramparts magazine, and it goes on to detail biographical facts about Underhill and his named friend, arms dealer Samuel Cummings. Redacted versions of the document were included in previous JFK document dumps, including in 2017 and 2018 under Trump, and 2022 under former President Biden.

What’s new is that Tuesday’s document dump had a fully unredacted version of that document revealed new details not about Underhill’s claims, but about Cummings, including that his arms companies were owned by the CIA.

The episode is a classic demonstration, though, of how tidbits of information can quickly go viral and make a major impact in online right spaces, with the personalities rushing to post regardless of the context.

The reaction from Republican officials, meanwhile, has been more guarded. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), who is leading the panel’s task force on declassifying federal secrets, praised the Trump administration’s release of the files, with Comer saying Trump “has the most transparent administration in history.”

FURTHER READING: The JFK Files are out. Here’s what experts are looking for, from the Washington Post … What’s in the New Kennedy Files? Spies. State Secrets. No Second Gunman, from the New York Times.

THREE MORE THINGS…

DAILY WIRE CEO SHUFFLE — Daily Wire’s Jeremy Boreing will step down from his role as co-CEO “to focus on creative projects for the company,” the company announced. Former Daily Wire breakout star Brett Cooper, who cut ties with the company before starting her own wildly successful YouTube channel in January, posted quite the side-eye meme in response to the news. The company was valued at $1 billion in a 2023 capital raising round, Axios previously reported. Also, among the Daily Wire’s fans: Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who had the company’s Ben Shapiro and Matt Walsh as his guests during Trump’s address to Congress.

KARI LAKE, the new head of the now-shuttered Voice of America, reportedly “accosted” her former Senate opponent, Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), at the new private member’s club Ned’s in Washington, D.C. The Bulwark reports that as Gallego went for a handshake, Lake asked him: “How does it feel to be bought and paid for by the cartels?”

LAWMAKERS GRAPPLE WITH TRUMP JUDICIARY ANTAGONISM — Republican lawmakers are conflicted over how to respond to Trump’s confrontational standoff with the federal judiciary, which drew a rare public rebuke Tuesday from Chief Justice John Roberts, my colleague Alex Bolton reports.

Thank you for reading. Tell me what you think, and what I should cover next: ebrooks@thehill.com

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