Same Funder, Same Arguments: How American Compass Promotes Left-Wing Policy as “New Right” Economics

Posted: Sep 23, 2026

Highlights

American Compass founder Oren Cass has repeatedly attacked President Trump’s core economic agenda, staking out positions virtually identical to those of the American Economic Liberties Project (AELP), a liberal organization whose current Executive Director previously worked at the Omidyar Network and whose Senior Advisor managed Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign.
Both organizations are funded by the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, one of the largest liberal foundations in the country, which has given American Compass more than $3.76 million since its founding.
A side-by-side comparison of statements from Cass and AELP leadership on four signature Trump economic priorities reveals striking alignment.

Much has been written about the Hewlett Foundation’s strategy to co-opt conservative policy through strategic grantmaking. American Compass and Oren Cass are perhaps Hewlett’s most prominent investment. But the clearest window into what that means in practice may not be found in American Compass’ donor disclosures; it may be found in a simple comparison.

Meet the American Economic Liberties Project (AELP), presents itself as a non-partisan anti-monopoly organization, but its leadership tells a different story. Executive Director Nidhi Hegde came to AELP directly from the Omidyar Network, where she served on the strategy and learning team. Senior Advisor Faiz Shakir served as campaign manager for Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential run. Board member Sarah Miller previously served as Chief of Staff to Biden FTC Chair Lina Khan.

And like American Compass, AELP counts the Hewlett Foundation among its major funders. At one point, American Compass and AELP even shared staff, as AELP Director of Research Matt Stoller was also on American Compass’ Advisory Board and has authored numerous pieces published by Compass..

On paper, these two organizations sit on opposite ends of the political spectrum. And yet, on every major economic policy initiative of the Trump administration, Oren Cass and AELP have been nearly impossible to tell apart.

The Comparison

Topic	American Compass	AELP
President Trump’s EO Encouraging Alternative Assets In 401K Plans	“Hedge funds consistently, badly *underperform simple public market indices* while collecting enormous management fees regardless of performance.” (Oren Cass, 1/13/26)	“These funds are high-fee, risky, and opaque. *Private equity consistently underperforms the S&P 500*.” (Helaine Olen, 8/7/25)
President Trump’s Support For Crypto Legislation	“In their defense, that task would be a difficult one, because *cryptocurrencies have proven themselves useful for little* besides high-risk speculation, grift, and outright fraud.”(Oren Cass, 1/15/26)	As a result, as an area of finance, *crypto has become almost pure speculation*, attracting scams and Ponzi schemes, as well as facilitating money laundering and unlawful activity.” (Shahid Naeem, Erik Peinert, and Matt Stoller, 12/13/22)
President Trump’s Efforts To Streamline Government (DOGE)	“Instead, *DOGE is haphazardly cutting expenditures* without even knowing what they are.” (Oren Cass, 2/24/25)	“There are two causes — a reckless and chaotic tariff plan and *DOGE decimating government capacity* to respond to these kinds of crises.” (AELP, 4/8/25)
President Trump’s Signature One Big, Beautiful Bill Act	“To your point about the political argument, certainly these folks in office would be making their lives a lot easier for themselves *if they were attending more to the actual political preferences* of their constituents and the country, which are not reflected in the bill.” (Oren Cass, 5/22/25)	“Then in June, Trump signed the Big Beautiful Bill, which was a *bunch of tax cuts for the wealthy*, and especially for big tech firms.” (Matt Stoller, 11/9/25)

Same Funder. Same Conclusions

This is not a coincidence of language. On 401(k) deregulation, crypto, DOGE, and the Big Beautiful Bill, Cass, and AELP arrive at the same destination, using the same arguments. However, when AELP opposes a Trump economic initiative, no one is surprised. When American Compass does it, the same left-wing argument gets laundered as conservative thought.

That seal of approval is the product Hewlett is paying for. As we have previously pointed out, between 2020 and 2024, Hewlett gave American Compass more than $3.7 million, or 40% of all contributions it has ever received. Its investment has purchased the ability to move left-coded economic arguments into conservative political spaces. American Compass, with its “New Right” branding and its access to conservative media, is well-positioned to do exactly that.

The same liberal foundations funding the Democratic Party are also funding American Compass. When Oren Cass pens a long missive on the issue of the day, free market advocates should stop taking his word for it and ask, whose interests is he actually serving?

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