More than a dozen employees are leaving Heritage to join the nonprofit led by Pence

More than a dozen employees of the Heritage Foundation are leaving the conservative think tank to join the nonprofit led by former Vice President Mike Pence as the embattled organization emerges from ongoing turmoil.

Advancing American Freedom — founded by Pence in 2021 to “defend freedoms and advance policies that build a stronger America” ​​— announced Monday that three senior officials who lead the legal, financial and data teams at Heritage will join the group next year, along with several members of their team.

The departures, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, mark the latest sign of turmoil at Heritage, which has seen dozens of employees flee the organization after being embroiled in a scandal over Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes and an ongoing debate within the conservative movement over anti-Semitism.

Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts, architect of the “Project 2025” blueprint for President Donald Trump’s second administration, drew sharp rebukes from conservative voices including commentator Ben Shapiro after he stood by conservative commentator Tucker Carlson’s friendly interview with Fuentes in October.

During the initial response, Roberts told employees he had made a “mistake,” but asked for a chance to “clean it up” at a November all-staff meeting, according to a leaked video first published by the Washington Free Beacon.

The appointments by Advancing American Freedom indicate that the organization is seeking 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 advance the cause of liberty.”

Andrew Olivastro, chief advancement officer at The Heritage Foundation, said in a statement Monday that the think tank’s “mission remains unchanged, and our leadership remains strong and decisive.”

“Legacy has always welcomed debate, but alignment on the mission and loyalty to the organization is inconsistent. A handful of employees chose a different path — some through obstruction, others through disloyalty,” Olivastro said.

In his statement, Olivastro said that several of the departing employees were “fired last week for conduct inconsistent with Heritage’s mission and standards” and added that “their departures clear the way for a stronger, more focused team.”

Former Heritage Vice President John Malcolm is expected to lead the AAF’s new Edwin Mees III Institute for the Rule of Law, which has been moved from Heritage. Jessica Reinsch, former deputy director of programs at the Meese Center, will serve as program director, 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 the Center for Statistical Modeling and Scientific Analysis.

Josh Blackman, a legal scholar who contributed to Project 2025, also resigned as senior editor of the Heritage Guide to the Constitution on Sunday. In his resignation letter, Blackman wrote that Roberts’ comments “were a huge unintended mistake, and gave aid and solace to the rising tide of anti-Semitism on the right,” in addition to undermining the work of the Mies Center.

“Your initial comments were incoherent. Your apology was weak. And the lack of any meaningful follow-up over the past three months is telling,” Blackman wrote in his letter to Roberts.

Still, some Heritage employees remain loyal to the organization, with conservative activist Robbie Starbuck sharing Monday that he will extend his stay as a visiting fellow at the think tank. Starbuck wrote on social media that “these resignations have more to do with 2028 than anything else,” accusing Blackman and others of wanting to “return to the Pence/Ryan GOP.”

Shock waves from the tussle over Heritage, once a major player in the MAGA coalition, are reverberating across the GOP as Republican firebrands like Carlson, Shapiro, Vivek Ramaswamy and Steve Bannon find a place in the party this weekend in Fuentes and America’s Turning Point Pahoes.