InfluenceWatch Podcast

Today a Senate Committee voted to advance former Oregon Representative Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Trump’s controversial pick for Labor Secretary, to a full floor vote, so Americans would do well to begin preparing for an impending onslaught of labor-related news, especially since, as my colleague Mike Watson will likely make clear in this episode, the new courtship of Big Labor coming from the right made the unlikely pick of Chavez-DeRemer a possibility. Adding to the drama was the no vote from Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who, not coincidentally, earlier in February introduced the National Right to Work Act, a conservative-backed bill that among other things, makes paying union dues voluntary. Joining us to discuss that development, and his organization’s work on the act itself, is Jace White, Director of Federal Affairs at the National Right to Work Committee. Links: Dr. Rand Paul Reintroduces National Right to Work ActNational Right To Work FoundationWhy Is Josh Hawley Bringing Obamanomics Back from the Grave?It doesn’t go well when Republicans put Big Labor in the CabinetFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

How much did the U.S. government spend on illegal migrants and dubious asylum claimants over the past four years? That is the question that many people are asking after Elon Musk, who is the frontman for the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency teams, claimed that FEMA had spent $59 million on “luxury hotels” to house migrants. Unfortunately for taxpayers, as our guest Simon Hankinson of the Heritage Foundation has noted, that expenditure is only the tip of the iceberg of taxpayer support for the migration surge under the Biden administration.Links: DOGE Discovers the Biden-Mayorkas Illegal Migration Funding MachineFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

The new Trump administration has set its Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) at the institutional bureaucracy with a mandate to streamline government operations and target wasteful spending or spending contrary to administration policy. Here at Capital Research Center, our “DOGE Files” are highlighting federal grantmaking to nonprofit organizations that DOGE, the rest of the administration, and Congress may find wasteful or contrary to sound policy. Joining us to discuss their investigations are our colleagues Parker Thayer and Robert Stilson.Links:The DOGE FilesDOGE and the Department of EducationDOGE and the Department of LaborDOGE and the Department of Housing and Urban DevelopmentDOGE and Department of Agriculture’s “Climate Smart” GrantsFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

Big Philanthropy and the so-called “good government” groups that it funds have a “solution” (I’m making air-quotes) to partisan gerrymandering: The “independent redistricting commission.” With funding from left-of-center groups like the Sixteen Thirty Fund, the National Redistricting Action Fund, the SEIU, the NEA, and the Quadrivium Foundation, a supposed political neophyte named Katie Fahey (whom media reports placed at Hillary Clinton’s 2016 Election Night event) campaigned to establish one in Michigan during the 2018 election. Fahey won, and then 13 citizens went about drawing Michigan’s congressional and state legislative districts after the 2020 Census. Joining my Michigan-based colleague Ken Braun and I to discuss her experiences inside Michigan’s redistricting commission is Rebecca Szetela, who served as the Commission Chair from September 2021 through March 2022. Links: Michigan’s Racist Redistricting “Reform”Michigan independent redistricting commission members on opposite sides of Ohio Issue 1Voters Not Politicians (VNP)The State of Redistricting 2022: The Coming CommissionsFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

The Trump administration is dismantling DEI within the federal workforce and ESG is slowly morphing into one of the most irritating terms in corporate governance. But conservatives, sensing there may be more work yet to do, might wonder if there is anything they can do individually to help end these discriminatory and counter-productive policies once and for all. Turns out, there is. A new effort called Coign (spelled C.O.I.G.N) offers what is essentially a conservative Visa card that donates a portion of every transaction to support Conservative charities. It’s the brainchild of CEO Rob Collins, a proud conservative with some heavy-hitting bona fides such as serving as Former Executive Director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Former Chief of Staff to Representative Eric Cantor, and Former Press Secretary for Senator John Thune’s Senate Campaign. Rob joins the show today to tell us all about COIGN.Links: America’s first credit card for Conservatives...Coign Card Charity ProgramFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

On its way out the door, the Biden administration provided a number of exit gifts for its allies amongst left-wing groups: feminists and abortion-rights activists received a legally toothless declaration that the Equal Rights Amendment, which had a ratification deadline that expired no later than 1982, was validly ratified; Native American activists and the extreme-left saw American Indian Movement radical Leonard Peltier, convicted of involvement in the deaths of two FBI agents, released from prison; and Big Philanthropy saw longtime liberal megadonor George Soros honored with a Presidential Medal of Freedom. But defund-the-police activists got another, very substantive exit-row gift from Biden’s government that wasn’t nearly as prominent: A proposed “consent decree” between the federal government and the Louisville Police Department strictly controlling how the Louisville PD will operate going forward. Joining us to discuss the decree is Neal Cornett, an attorney representing the Heritage Foundation in its efforts to intervene as a friend of the court.Links: HERITAGE FOUNDATION’S & HERITAGE FOUNDATION OVERSIGHT PROJECT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MIKE HOWELL’S MOTION TO PARTICIPATE AS AMICI CURIAE Justice Department Secures Agreement with Louisville Metro Government to Reform Louisville Metro’s and Louisville Metro Police Department’s Unconstitutional and Unlawful PracticesI-Team Exclusive: Drop in Baltimore homicides due to COVID-19 fraud prosecutions, US attorney saysFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

Almost everyone can look at the education landscape in America today and see that something has gone very, very wrong. Spending per student has increased, and there is no evidence that this increased spending has improved student performance outcomes. But what if there are factors eating up the budget and keeping the student performance outcomes stagnant? Factors such as the rise of teachers unions in non-right-to-work states, for example?Joining us today is Corey DeAngelis, a school choice evangelist who is a senior fellow at the American Culture Project, to discuss a recently released report he helped author that looks at just that, the administrative bloat in the public school system and how it correlates to increased teacher union influence. Also joining is CRC colleague Mike Watson, our regular host and resident labor union expert. Corey A. DeAngelis is a senior fellow at the American Culture Project. He has been labeled the “school choice evangelist” and called “the most effective school choice advocate since Milton Friedman.” He is a regular on Fox News and frequently appears in The Wall Street Journal. DeAngelis is also the executive director at Educational Freedom Institute, a senior fellow at Reason Foundation, an adjunct scholar at Cato Institute, a board member at Liberty Justice Center, and a senior advisor at Accuracy in Media. He holds a Ph.D. in education policy from the University of Arkansas. He is the national bestselling author of The Parent Revolution: Rescuing Your Kids from the Radicals Ruining Our Schools (Center Street, 2024).Links: Educational Bloat and the Role of UnionsCorey DeAngelis - XEducation FirstWhere Is, Repeat Where Is, America’s Political Leadership? The World Wonders.American Culture ProjectFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

The incoming second Trump administration has vowed to take on “diversity, equity, and inclusion” policies in the federal government and in federally supported programs. In that, the incoming administration is following the model of conservative-led states like Texas, which have adopted policies restricting left-wing racial ideologies and race-conscious practices. Joining us to discuss Texas’s experience in countering DEI is Kate Bierly of the Texas Public Policy Foundation.Links: Grading DEITexas Holding Universities Accountable on DEIWhat Trump’s Second Term Could Mean for DEIAustin area nonprofits say they’re struggling without DEI fundingFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

Well, 2025 is here. And while it came in rather tragically in the South – and we do extend our condolences to the victims of the terrorist attack in New Orleans– the new year also brings a new presidential inauguration. This incoming administration promises big changes both in how government functions and how it funds, and these changes could have immediate effects on the world of grantmaking, philanthropy, and how nonprofits operate generally. As such, my colleagues Mike Watson and Robert Stilson and I thought it might be interesting to make a few suggestions about how some of those changes could play out and which ones we, as an organization, are keeping our eyes on moving forward.Links: SF pays big bucks to nonprofits, fails to properly monitor themConservative nonprofit's proposal points to states as best way to reduce foreign influence in higher edSuperfund Shakedown: Part 1, On to Plan CFollow Trump 45 Labor Policy, Not the Teamsters UnionFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

As the incoming second Trump administration prepares to target government waste with the “Department of Government Efficiency” commission and activists hope that Trump’s administration will root divisive left-wing racial ideologies out of government, Parents Defending Education has released a report relevant to both. The advocacy group identified $1 billion in federal grants from the Biden Department of Education to school districts, universities, and other groups for diversity, equity, and inclusion-related hiring and programming and social-emotional learning. Joining us to discuss the findings is Michele Exner, senior advisor at Parents Defending Education.Links: Biden’s Education Department shelled out $1B on DEI since 2021: reportGrantEDFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter