A rift in MAGA has top Heritage Foundation officials leaving to join with Mike Pence

More than a dozen staff members at the influential conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation are leaving the organization to join a group founded by former Vice President Mike Pence.

The mass departure follows turmoil within Heritage and the larger conservative movement over the role of right-wing influencers who’ve promoted antisemitic and other extremist ideas. Those tensions were on display at Heritage after its president, Kevin Roberts, released a video defending Tucker Carlson for a friendly interview in October with Nick Fuentes, an avowed white nationalist who has previously praised Adolf Hitler. Roberts’ video sparked controversy inside Heritage, prompting him to later apologize for it.

Pence’s think tank, Advancing American Freedom, or AAF, announced the hires on Monday, saying they include leaders from the Heritage Foundation’s legal, economic and data teams.

In a statement, Pence welcomed the new hires and said they “bring a wealth of experience, a love of country, and a deep commitment to the Constitution and Conservative Movement that will further the cause of liberty.”

AAF President Tim Chapman told NPR that after learning of the Heritage staffers’ interest in leaving the organization, AAF raised $13 million toward a $15 million goal in two weeks to help fund their salaries over the next three years.

The move dramatically expands AAF’s size, Chapman said, taking the organization from 18 employees to more than 30. Chapman said AAF is bolstering its research team in an effort to fill what it sees as a gap within the modern conservative movement.

Chapman said AAF will promote traditional conservative ideas such as low taxation, strong national defense and limited regulation at a time when he said the Republican Party and others on the right are in a battle to define the future.

“I think what’s happening right now is that a movement that has oriented itself around political personalities and specific political leaders is starting to realize that those leaders are not going to be here forever, whether it’s President Trump or other leaders,” Chapman said.

“There is an end date on their leadership … And so the question is now popping up, what is it that the movement after that leadership structure, what is it that that movement stands for after that?”

Meanwhile, in a statement to NPR, Heritage Foundation Chief Advancement Officer Andy Olivastro accused some of the staff members who left of “disloyalty,” adding that the departures “clear the way for a stronger, more focused team.”

A task force focused on fighting antisemitism recently cut ties with Heritage over related concerns. Heritage has played an influential role in the Trump administration, including through its publication of Project 2025, which outlines a detailed list of conservative policy goals and plans, many of which the administration has implemented.