More than a dozen employees at the Heritage Foundation are leaving the conservative think tank to join a nonprofit led by former Vice President Mike Pence as the beleaguered organization continues to reel from ongoing turmoil.
Advancing American Freedom — founded by Pence in 2021 “to defend freedom and advance policies that build a stronger America” — announced Monday that three senior officials who led the legal, economic and data teams at Heritage will join the group next year, along with several members of their teams.
The departure, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, marks the latest sign of turmoil at Heritage, which has seen dozens of workers flee the organization since it was engulfed in a scandal involving Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes and the ongoing debate within the conservative movement over anti-Semitism.
Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts, the architect behind the “Project 2025” plan for President Donald Trump’s second administration, drew sharp rebuke from conservative voices, including commentator Ben Shapiro, after he sat with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson in a friendly interview with Fuentes in October.
In light of the initial backlash, Roberts told employees he’d made a “mistake,” but asked for a chance to “clean it up” during a November all-staff meeting, according to a video first aired by the Wacon Free Beacon.
The hiring by Advancing American Freedom indicates that the organization is looking to position itself as a major player within the broader conservative movement.
“AAF is honored to welcome these principled conservative scholars to the team,” Pence, who has been the target of Trump’s ire since the former vice president certified the results of the 2020 election, said in a statement. “They bring a wealth of experience, a love of country, and a deep commitment to the Constitution and the Conservative Movement that will strengthen the cause of freedom.”
Andrew Olivastro, chief advancement officer at the Heritage Foundation, said in a statement Monday that the think tank’s mission has not changed, and our leadership is strong and decisive.
“Heritage has always welcomed debate, but alignment on the mission and loyalty to the institution are not negotiable. A few staff have chosen a different path – some through disruption, others through disloyalty,” said Olivastro.
In his statement, Olivastro said several of the departing employees were “terminated for conduct inconsistent with Heritage’s mission and standards” last week, adding that “Their departure paves the way for a stronger and more focused team.”
Former Heritage Vice President John Malcolm is expected to lead the new AAF Edwin Meese III Institute for the Rule of Law, which is being relocated by Heritage. Jessica Reinsch, formerly deputy director of programs at the Meese Center, will serve as director of programs, and five other former employees at Heritage will also join AAF’s Meese Institute.
Five staff members from Heritage’s economic policy institute and its federal budget center will join AAF’s Plymouth Institute for Free Enterprise, and former Heritage Chief Statistician Kevin Dayaratna will lead its Center for Statistical Modeling and Scientific Analysis.
Josh Blackman, a legal scholar who contributed to Project 2025, also resigned his post as senior editor of the Heritage Guide to the Constitution on Sunday. In his resignation letter, Blackman wrote that Roberts’ remarks “were a major unforced disruption, giving aid and abet to the rising tide of anti-Semitism on the right,” in addition to undermining the work of the Meese Center.
“Your initial remarks were indefensible. Your apology was one. And the lack of any meaningful follow-up over the last three months was telling,” Blackman wrote in his letter to Roberts.
Still, some Heritage staff members have remained loyal to the organization, with conservative activist Robby Starbuck sharing Monday that he would extend his stay as a visiting fellow at the think tank. Starbuck wrote on social media that “these resignations have a lot more to do with 2028 than anything else,” accusing Blackman and others who resigned of longing for “a return to the Pence/Ryan GOP.”
The shock waves from the infighting at Heritage, once a key player in the MAGA coalition, have continued to reverberate through the GOP, with Republican firebrands like Carlson, Shapiro, Vivek Ramaswamy and Steve Bannon firing shots at Fuentes and whether he had a place in the party this weekend at Turning Point’s AmericaFest in Phoenix.