Oren Cass and his think tank, American Compass, have set a goal of changing “the course of conservative economics.” Specifically, they reject conservatives’ long-held positions on a series of issues, including tax cuts and deregulation. American Compass is a member of the Advisory Board to Project 2025, for which Cass contributed to its chapter on labor issues.
Cass himself has called the Trump tax cuts – widely considered the signature domestic policy achievement of the Trump presidency – “an expensive failure,” stated that they “generated no meaningful increase in investment,” and recently American Compass proposed a budget that would let them expire entirely.
These contrarian positions and Cass’s aggressive PR campaign have resulted in glowing coverage about his significant impact on conservative policy with headlines like:
“Trump-allied Republicans are changing the GOP’s approach to labor, free markets and regulation.”
Yet when it comes to actual policy specifics, it’s unclear what – if any – influence Cass and his ideas are having today.
Case in point: Campaigning in North Carolina yesterday, Donald Trump offered a full-throated endorsement for not only extending but expanding his tax cut plan – from Axios:
Trump goes big on tax cut promises in Harris prebuttal
Former President Trump is offering massive tax cuts if he’s elected, courting voters with big giveaways without discussing how they’ll pay for it.
Why it matters: Trump’s big policy legacy was his tax cuts in 2017. Now he’s promising to go much further in 2025.
With his offerings spelled out on the backdrop of his rally in Asheville, N.C., Trump listed promises for voters who think the economy isn’t working.
This comes just a week after Trump’s running mate, Senate J.D. Vance – who Cass constantly touts his closeness too – emphatically rejected Cass’s call for higher taxes and endorsed Trump’s tax cuts and deregulation agenda in a CNBC interview: