In launching a $20-million campaign last month to persuade Congress to extend President Trump’s first-term Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, Charles Koch’s astroturf group, Americans for Prosperity, boasted about making the largest investment of any other conservative group in support of Trump’s second-term legislative agenda.
Economy
Koch Spent $91 Million to Influence Higher Education in 2023
A constellation of donor vehicles established by Charles Koch poured $90.8 million into 127 university and college recipients in 2023 to promote his business and policy interests, a Center for Media and Democracy analysis has found.
ALEC Member Strikes a Blow Against Rule Requiring Union Labor on Federal Construction Projects
Contractors engaged in large federal construction projects can’t be required to enter collective bargaining agreements with building trade unions, a federal claims court ruled last week.
Trump Is Replacing Democracy With Autocracy
Trump is implementing a plan to make the wealthiest people in America far wealthier and more powerful, including Trump himself, and to turn American democracy into a giant corporation run by a handful of absurdly rich men.
Texas Fishermen Sue Koch Over Oil Spill
Flint Hills Resources, a refining subsidiary of the industrial and petrochemical giant Koch, has been hit with a civil suit brought by commercial fishermen and shrimpers.
Koch Network Tax Plan Targets the Poor in Louisiana
While leaders of both major parties were either celebrating their victories or mourning their losses after the November 5 elections, billionaire Charles Koch racked up a big win in Louisiana when Republican Governor Jeff Landry convened a special session of the state legislature on November 6 — the very next day — to overhaul the state’s tax system.
Top Leonard Leo Lieutenant Leads ALEC Bootcamp Against “Woke” Capitalism
On December 5, right-wing culture warriors instructed lawmakers attending the American Legislative Exchange Council’s States and Nation Policy Summit in Washington, D.C., on the steps their states can take to upend policies and practices designed to help address the unfolding climate emergency and diversify workforces.
ALEC Maps Out Right-Wing Legislative Agenda for 2025 in DC
ALEC state politicians, corporate lobbyists, and right-wing operatives are gathering at the four-star Grand Hyatt Washington to discuss and vote on model policies and resolutions to further climate delayism and preserve the use of fossil fuels, alter state election codes, protect purveyors of misinformation, privatize education, and push their extremist agenda in other ways.
DonorsTrust Injected More Than $150 Million in Untraceable Cash Into Right-Wing Groups in 2023
DonorsTrust — the donor conduit favored by the Koch political network — funneled over $152.5 million to MAGA groups, right-wing national and state think tanks and litigation centers, hate groups, youth groups, and more in 2023, according to an analysis of its latest IRS filing obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy.
The Invisible Hand: How Dark Money Is Inventing Prestige for Right-Wing Academics
In October, the American Academy of Sciences and Letters honored health economist Jay Bhattacharya with an award for intellectual freedom. The professor has been a go-to expert for Republican politicians and right-wing groups working to politicize public health and government efforts to control COVID.