russell-vought project-2025 center-for-renewing-america heritage conservative-partnership-institute class-analysis
related: _Russell Vought Master Profile Leonard Leo donors: Leonard Leo, Robert Mercer, DonorsTrust, Conservative Partnership Institute
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The Project 2025 Pipeline and the Center for Renewing America
Money
The Center for Renewing America (CRA) — founded by Russell Vought in January 2021, the week after Biden’s inauguration — is the organizational bridge between conservative donor money and federal government control. Funded by the Conservative Partnership Institute ($1.93M, 2021–2022), the Klingenstein Fund ($125K), and the Bradley Impact Fund ($11.5K), CRA developed the policy blueprints that became Project 2025’s implementation plans. Vought co-authored Project 2025 (Chapter 2: Executive Office of the President), writing 350 executive orders, regulations, and a 180-day implementation playbook for each federal agency. CRA staff moved directly into government positions: COO Ashlea Frazier (Vought’s former OMB chief of staff), communications director Rachel Semmel (former OMB communications). The pipeline: donor money → CRA → Project 2025 blueprint → Trump administration positions → policy implementation.
The Funding Architecture
| Date | Event | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-01-20 | Biden administration begins; Vought exits OMB | — | White House transition |
| 2021-01-01 | Vought founds Center for Renewing America | — | CRA incorporation |
| 2021-01-01 | Conservative Partnership Institute begins funding CRA | $1,930,701 annual rate | IRS 990 filing (Tier 1) |
| 2021-12-31 | CRA receives funding from CPI for 2021 | $1,930,701 documented | CRA tax filings (Tier 1) |
| 2022-01-01 | Thomas D. Klingenstein Fund grants to CRA | $125,000 | IRS 990 filing (Tier 1) |
| 2022-01-01 | Bradley Impact Fund grants to CRA | $11,500 | IRS 990 filing (Tier 1) |
| 2022-12-31 | CRA completes Project 2025 policy blueprint development | — | Project 2025 Mandate for Leadership publication |
| 2020-01-01 | Project 2025 broader donor network (fidelity DAFs, Mercer Foundation, etc.) begins funding | $171,000,000 cumulative (2020–present) | ProPublica, SourceWatch (Tier 2) |
| 2023-12-31 | Heritage Foundation reports $101M annual revenue; distributes $965K to Project 2025 orgs | $101,000,000 annual revenue | Heritage Foundation 990 filing (Tier 1) |
| 2024-01-01 | DonorsTrust receives $60M transfer from Mercer Family Foundation | $60,000,000 | Family foundation filings, NBC News (Tier 2) |
| 2024-12-31 | Project 2025 donor network has funded infrastructure for second Trump term | — | Heritage Foundation, Trump transition team coordination |
| 2025-01-20 | CRA staff move into Trump administration positions; Vought becomes OMB Director | — | White House announcement |
Money
The CRA received $2.07M in direct documented funding (2021–2022) from identified sources. The broader Project 2025 donor network ($171M) funded a coalition of organizations that developed the policy blueprint. Heritage Foundation’s $101M annual revenue and strategic grant-making to Project 2025-aligned orgs ($965K in 2022) shows how donor money moved through intermediaries to infrastructure. Mercer Family Foundation’s $60M transfer to DonorsTrust created an untraceable fund that obscured original donor identity. The result: by 2025, a fully funded ideological apparatus was ready to implement policy. The donor class had prepaid for a second Trump term.
The broader funding network: donor-advised funds at Fidelity ($82M to 68 groups), Schwab, and Vanguard have channeled approximately $171 million to Project 2025-related organizations since 2020. Heritage Foundation — the Project 2025 anchor — reported $101 million in 2023 revenue and distributed $965,000 to Project 2025 advisory board organizations (58% of total grant-making in 2022). The Mercer Family Foundation transferred $60+ million to DonorsTrust, the untraceable libertarian donor-advised fund that obscures the ultimate source of conservative movement funding.
CRA Staff → Government Pipeline
| CRA Role | Person | Government Role |
|---|---|---|
| Founder/President | Russell Vought | OMB Director |
| COO | Ashlea Frazier | Previously OMB chief of staff |
| Communications Director | Rachel Semmel | Previously OMB communications |
| Executive Director (Citizens) | Wade Miller | Previously Heritage Action, Cruz political director |
| CEO | Eric Teetsel | CRA operational management |
The pattern: CRA hired former OMB staff during the Biden years, maintained the institutional knowledge and policy infrastructure, then moved the same people back into government when Trump returned. The revolving door isn’t between government and industry — it’s between government and the ideological organization designed to capture government.
Project 2025 Implementation
Trump has implemented approximately 48% of Project 2025 as of late 2025. Key implementations traceable to Vought’s blueprint:
- USAID defunded 83% ($1.3B+ in contracts terminated)
- Title I Elementary/Secondary Education funding eliminated ($18B from low-income schools)
- Department of Education slated for elimination
- Schedule F implementation (removing civil service protections)
- Impoundment of congressionally appropriated funds
- CFPB work halt and defunding attempt
Money
The 48% implementation rate within 10 months represents the most successful pre-planned policy capture in modern American history. The CRA → Project 2025 → OMB pipeline means the same organization that wrote the blueprint controls the implementation. Vought described OMB as “the president’s air-traffic control system” and the director as “keeper of ‘commander’s intent’” — language that frames the budget office as a command structure, not a fiscal management agency.