WASHINGTON—As members of the Trump administration disband, several are looking to further the “America First” agenda espoused by the former president.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo joined the Hudson Institute as a distinguished fellow.
“I look forward to contributing to its mission of promoting American leadership and global engagement,” Pompeo wrote on Twitter on Jan. 27. “It’s important that we keep putting America First!”
Meanwhile, Russ Vought, former director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, has established an organization focused on traditional values, namely God, country, and community.
Vought announced the Center for American Restoration in the Federalist on Jan. 26, saying Trump’s presidency was “the first real counter assault to the left in decades, by a champion who had the stomach and the strength to sustain the withering fire of his adversaries.”
He said the organization will predominantly focus on policy at the federal level, although he expects much of the initial efforts will be defending against President Joe Biden’s liberal agenda.
“The Biden administration is going to give us many opportunities, unfortunately, to have to confront and provide accountability to the federal government immediately, whether that’s us needing to block his amnesty proposals or his nominees that are, quite frankly, out of the mainstream,” Vought told NTD on Jan. 28.
“We hope to give voice to the common, forgotten men and women across this great country, possessed with extraordinary intuition, who work hard, pay their taxes, and attempt to raise their families in healthy communities.”
Vought’s agenda is broad and he wants to tackle issues such as eliminating “cancel culture,” promoting pro-life, restoring election integrity, pushing for immigration integrity, treating China as the predominant national security threat, and advocating for a smaller government.
“I think right now, it’s important to reflect on where we are as a country and realize we’re incredibly divided,” he said. “And the status quo is certainly not something that we can defend and conserve anymore.”
He said he wants to provide an “institutional home” to the many grassroots activists who are concerned about the future of the country, but are often maligned by the left.
“To be able to provide a place for activism to be safe, and to be targeted and strategic, and to really be able to advance both our ideas to restore the consensus in this country,” Vought said.
He said he spoke to Donald Trump earlier this week and “he’s in great spirits.”
“He has a major, obviously, a major voice in these issues. And we really believe that we’re continuing his legacy. We'll be working with all of the groups that come out of his administration to have a coalition on these issues,” Vought said.
