A prominent economist seeking to influence the economic policies of the incoming Trump administration is facing criticism from conservative groups over the organization's liberal donors and past criticism of President-elect Trump's policies.
Oren Kass, who previously worked on both of Mitt Romney's presidential campaigns, is the founder and chief economist of American Compass, a conservative think tank that has infiltrated Congress with several prominent Republicans.
Over the past year, Kass' philosophy has reportedly gained traction in some pro-Trump circles, but some conservatives have questioned his growing influence and are concerned about his past. is concerned that his policies will undermine Trump's policies based on his anti-Trump statements. In a May 2021 interview, Kass compared Trump to an “earthquake” because he believed Trump was “a disaster in so many ways.”
“Self-proclaimed 'conservative' Oren Kass and his American Compass are not and will never be seen as legitimate voices in Republican policy circles,” CNBC's Joe Kernen says. They got it right when they called it a “lunatic, one-party progressive way of doing things,'' and their funding only proves that,'' Club for Growth President David McIntosh said on FOX. He told News Digital.
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Oren Kass (right) is chief economist at American Compass. (Getty Images)
“American Compass continues to operate thanks to generous donations from radical left organizations such as the Hewlett Foundation and the Omidyar Network, and the Club for Growth supports President Trump and actual conservative policies. We are proud to work with the overwhelming majority of Republican voters who Similar to the proposals outlined in our foundation's recent Freedom Forward Policy Handbook: lower taxes, lower spending to reduce the deficit, deregulation to boost American manufacturing, and America First. energy policy, school choice, worker freedom, etc.,” he continued.
Most of American Compass's funding comes from a small number of foundations tied to liberal causes. That includes about $2 million from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Omidyar Network, which provides 11% of American Compass' funding and is led by an organization. The founders are described as “famous for funding conservative liberal clothing groups that targeted former President Donald Trump and his supporters.”
American Compass also partners with the Partners for Rethinking Capitalism fund. The funds include the American Progress Center, the Groundwork Action Fund in conjunction with the Sixteen Thirty Fund, the Progressive Caucus Action Fund, and the socialist think tank Tides Advocacy and Demos.
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Kass' group also received more than $200,000 from the Rockefeller Foundation. The Rockefeller Foundation is a multibillion-dollar foundation that funds several left-wing causes, including radical environmental groups and Imagining America, a coalition of universities involved in left-wing curriculum development. be. ” says the Capital Research Center.
The San Francisco Foundation has funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to far-left groups. donated $100,000 To American Compass.
When FOX News Digital confronted Cass about funding for his organization and criticism from rival conservative groups, he slammed the “anti-tax fanatics” who criticized his organization.
“American Compass stands for a promise to limit government and pay for the government we have instead of leaving it to our children,” Kass told Fox News Digital. “Anti-tax fanatics can lobby for higher deficits if they want, but conservatives have no obligation to follow them into the fiscal hole.”
President-elect Trump during UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden on November 16, 2024 in New York City. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
In addition to the funding American Compass receives from left-wing groups, its advisory board includes several Democrats, including a former senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and a longtime supporter of Sen. Elizabeth Warren. This includes Ganesh Sitharaman, who served as an advisor. , Massachusetts Democratic Party, dating back to his 2012 Senate campaign.
Matt Stoller, director of research at the American Economic Freedom Project, which has received at least $500,000 from George Soros' Open Society Foundation and at least $230,000 from the Omidyar Network Fund, is also an advisory board member and has donated tens of thousands of dollars. I am doing it. Dollars to Democrats.
Tom Hebert, director of competition and regulatory policy at Americans for Tax Reform, denounced Kass as an “anti-Trump activist” in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“The American people returned Donald Trump to the White House with a strong economic mandate to cut taxes, reduce job-creating regulations, and advance worker freedom.” Oren Kass, CEO of the Post-Trump organization He founded American Compass, which opposes President Trump's economic policies. People at every level are even calling the landmark Trump tax cuts a 'costly failure,''' Hebert said.
“Mr. Kass is not a conservative. He is an anti-Trump activist that MSNBC has on speed dial to undermine Mr. Trump's policies in a second term.”
In addition to the Hebert quote, Americans for Tax Reform published an article in July with the headline, “Who Said It? Oren or Warren?” The article points to Sens. Warren and Kass's “American Compass” tax plan, both published a month ago and containing multiple quotes from Sens. Warren and Kass. and asks readers to identify the source of each quote.
In this file photo, Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren speaks at the 2018 Massachusetts Democratic Convention on June 1, 2018 in Worcester, Massachusetts. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
“Warren’s plan calls on Democrats to reject the extension of Trump tax cuts,” the article states. “The budget proposal released by Oren Kass' American Compass calls itself the 'flagship of a healthier, more sensitive post-Trump conservative movement,' and calls for the full expiration of the 2017 Trump tax cuts. , Biden's preferred corporate tax rate of 28%, and supports Warren's call for a financial transactions tax.
Americans calling for tax reform I continued to call American Compass is “left-wing” and Kass opposes the Trump tax cuts, so he said in another post from earlier this year that he is “the leader of American Compass who will raise taxes.”
Kass appeared on CNBC earlier this year and suggested that lowering taxes and corporate tax rates is not “conservative,” adding, “That…absolutely radical nonsense is not conservative.” I was ridiculed.
After seeing the footage, Richard Stern, director of the Heritage Foundation's Grover M. Herman Center on the Federal Budget, criticized Cass.[Cass on] CNBC this morning defended the United Party's attempts to steal people's money and put it into their hands, blocking the flow of money to start-ups and small businesses. With “friends” like this, who needs socialists? ”
In a C-SPAN interview over the weekend, Kass praised several aspects of the first Trump administration, saying the United States had “made tremendous progress” by implementing “more aggressive trade policies” and confronting China. I accomplished it,” he said. He also spoke about some of the cabinet appointments, including calling Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) an “excellent” selection for the State Department after warning that China is the “main adversary.” -Praised the Vance administration. ”
He added that he expected the administration to have “a labor policy that is more focused on the interests of workers,” pointing to past statements by Vice President-elect J.D. Vance that commerce and labor are “at the heart of economic policy.” said.
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Despite some praise for Trump, Kass has long criticized Trump's 2017 tax cuts, calling them a “costly failure” and saying Trumpism has “inevitably expired.” Trump, he said in September 2020, “hasn't built an intellectual foundation.” There is no institutional infrastructure or policy agenda. ”
Even after Trump won the 2024 presidential election, Kass continued to voice his opposition to Trump's tax policies.
Kass told PBS on November 10th. “Politics today is such that both candidates are talking about how they're going to cut everyone's taxes. And of course, everyone likes tax cuts. But they also move our economy in a better direction. I don't think so.”
meanwhile another interview Since the beginning of this year, Kass has said that one of the things he finds “most reassuring” is that there is no “mini-Trump” and has been “very encouraged” by the post-Trump Republican leaders he has met. he said.
