new-consensus think-tank green-new-deal climate policy class-analysis follow-the-money
related:: AOC · Sunrise Movement · Green New Deal Resolution · Mission for America · RFC Reconstruction Finance Corporation
Organizational Founding and Structure
New Consensus was founded in 2017 by Chakrabarti and Zack Exley. The organization is registered as a 501(c)(3) public charity (EIN: 82-3053965) headquartered at 1025 Vermont Ave NW, Washington, DC 20005. Its stated mission is “Designing comprehensive, detailed plans for governments to achieve economic renewal and transformation” — explicitly modeled after “mass economic mobilizations of the past.”
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“Designing comprehensive, detailed plans for governments to achieve economic renewal and transformation”
The organization’s founding occurred precisely when Chakrabarti was positioned as Chief of Staff to AOC and beginning his work on the Green New Deal resolution.
Financial Trajectory and Donor Opacity
New Consensus financial data from ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer (990 forms):
| Fiscal Year | Total Contributions | Total Assets | Exec Compensation | Other Salaries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY 2018 | $1,076,000 | $763,739 | $80,000 | $0 |
| FY 2019 | $1,663,307 | $1,167,120 | $235,982 | $93,740 |
| FY 2020 | $935 | $1,185,114 | $0 | $0 |
| FY 2021 | $645,815 | $561,651 | $238,678 | $195,974 |
| FY 2022 | $1,000,920 | $586,976 | $219,327 | $384,535 |
| FY 2023 | $200,540 | $145,593 | $179,707 | $186,431 |
Money
Peak funding occurred in FY2019 ($1.66M) — the exact year the Green New Deal launched publicly. Funding collapsed to $935 in FY2020 (pandemic year), followed by partial recovery and sharp decline to $200K by FY2023, suggesting donor base withdrawal or mission pivot uncertainty.
Donor identities remain shielded: 501(c)(3) status permits Schedule B protection, and no major foundation grants have been publicly confirmed. This opacity obscures the funding source architecture behind the GND policy push.
Staff and Compensation Patterns
As of FY2023 (most recent 990):
- Saikat Chakrabarti: Director, President. $0 compensation (all years).
- Zack Exley: Executive Director. $178,122.
- Megan Hernandez: Director, Treasurer. $0.
- Robert Hockett: Senior Fellow. $140,000 (FY2022 only) — Cornell Law professor; no longer listed.
- Demond Drummer: Director, Secretary. $60,000 (FY2022); departed to PolicyLink.
Current status (early 2026): The organization operates with skeleton crew. Website lists only three active personnel: Chakrabarti, Exley, and Bill O’Toole (researcher).
Contradiction
Chakrabarti takes zero salary despite serving as Director and President, while simultaneously his campaign manager (Exley) draws $178K as Executive Director. This arrangement blurs nonprofit policy work with electoral politics.
The GND Policy Architecture (2018–2019)
New Consensus served as the intellectual and socialization apparatus for the Green New Deal resolution introduced February 7, 2019. Per Chakrabarti’s own account in a Noah Smith interview (February 2021):
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“I worked on the inside to build political support, while the Sunrise Movement worked on the outside to mount a pressure campaign on representatives and presidential candidates. At the same time, New Consensus worked to flesh out the ideas in the Green New Deal and socialize them with academics and journalists.”
Three-pillar strategy:
- Inside pressure: Chakrabarti as AOC’s CoS provided legislative architecture.
- Outside pressure: Sunrise Movement mounted grassroots/media campaigns.
- Intellectual legitimacy: New Consensus developed policy detail and cultivated academic/journalist credibility.
The GND FAQ Debacle (February 2019)
A leaked FAQ document accompanying the GND resolution promised “economic security for all who are unable or unwilling to work” — language that became fodder for conservative critics attacking the proposal as welfare expansion.
Contradiction
Chakrabarti dismissed the FAQ as “bad copy mistakenly published,” yet Robert Hockett (New Consensus Senior Fellow) falsely told Tucker Carlson on Fox News that the FAQ had been “doctored” — a claim contradicted by NPR reporters who received the document directly from AOC’s office. The FAQ was subsequently deleted, but the reputational damage and messaging incoherence persisted.
This episode revealed either strategic incompetence or coordinated obfuscation regarding the GND’s actual class-mobilization intent.
Post-GND Policy Products
Biden Executive Action Memo (November 2020): New Consensus published analysis arguing that an incoming Biden administration could pursue progressive economic goals through executive action without Senate approval. Politico coverage (November 18, 2020) noted this provided intellectual cover for circumventing legislative gridlock.
Mission for America (ongoing flagship): Presented as a long-form policy architecture spanning hundreds of pages, outlining a ten-year national economic mobilization. Key planks include:
- Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) revival
- 100% clean electricity in 10 years
- 30M EVs/year production capacity
- Green steel and industrial decarbonization
- Building retrofit scale-up
- Workforce development programs
- AI preparation and public ownership frameworks
The Mission document is explicitly “written for the president who enters the White House in 2029” — a transparent framing that this is Chakrabarti’s own electoral platform masquerading as a nonprofit policy product.
2026 Status and Mission Creep
By October 2025, Politico described New Consensus as “a few guys in San Francisco” — indicating drastically reduced operational capacity relative to its 2019 peak. The organization has functionally merged with Chakrabarti’s congressional campaign machinery.
Money
Zack Exley simultaneously holds two positions: Executive Director of New Consensus and campaign manager for Chakrabarti’s 2026 campaign. Mission for America serves as both nonprofit policy output and electoral platform literature. This represents mission-nonprofit hybridization that obscures the boundary between 501(c)(3) work and candidate promotion.
Total assets as of FY2023: $145,593 — a 91% decline from FY2019 peak.
Compensation as Chief of Staff (2019 Context)
Chakrabarti drew $80,000 as AOC’s Chief of Staff — substantially below the disclosed range of $146,830–$177,292 for congressional CoS positions. This salary level placed him below the $126,000 disclosure threshold, shielding his broader wealth from public tax filings and financial transparency.
Contradiction
This suppressed compensation structure raises questions about external income sources funding Chakrabarti’s living costs and whether New Consensus served as a compensation mechanism for political work nominally assigned to the House payroll.
research-status:: Primary sources verified via ProPublica 990 database, Politico reporting, and founder interviews. Missing: detailed donor identification (Schedule B protected), board minutes, and strategic planning documents.
content-readiness:: Developed. Core facts established; gaps remain in identifying funding sources and internal decision-making architecture.
Sources
- ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer (EIN 82-3053965): https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/823053965 (Tier 1)
- New Consensus About page: https://www.newconsensus.com/about (Tier 3)
- New Consensus Mission for America: https://www.newconsensus.com/read/at-a-glance (Tier 3)
- Politico Biden memo (Nov 18, 2020): https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/18/progressive-group-biden-economic-goals-senate-437167 (Tier 2)
- Politico Chakrabarti profile (Oct 2025): https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/10/30/saikat-chakrabarti-nancy-pelosi-democratic-party-00624012 (Tier 2)
- Noah Smith interview with Chakrabarti (Feb 2021): https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/interview-saikat-chakrabarti-creator (Tier 3)
- Business Insider GND FAQ analysis (Feb 2019): https://www.businessinsider.com/right-wing-media-attacking-alexandria-ocasio-cortezs-green-new-deal-2019-2 (Tier 3)
- Philadelphia Inquirer GND FAQ retraction (Feb 12, 2019): https://www.inquirer.com/politics/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-retracts-erroneous-information-green-new-deal-20190212.html (Tier 3)