 | |
| Abbreviation | CAP |
|---|---|
| Founded | October 24, 2003; 22 years ago (2003-10-24) |
| Founder | John Podesta |
| Type | Public policythink tank |
| 30-0126510 | |
| Legal status | 501(c)(3) organization |
| Headquarters | 1333 H Street,Washington, D.C., US |
President | Neera Tanden |
| Revenue | $46.1 million[1] (2023) |
| Expenses | $49 million[1] (2023) |
| Website | americanprogress |
TheCenter for American Progress (CAP) is apublic policyresearch andadvocacy organization which presents aliberal[2] viewpoint oneconomic and social issues. CAP is headquartered inWashington, D.C.
The president and chief executive officer of CAP isNeera Tanden, a Democratic political consultant and former government official.[3] The first president and CEO wasJohn Podesta, who has served asWhite House Chief of Staff toUS presidentBill Clinton and as the chairman of the2016 presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton.[4] Podesta remained with the organization aschairman of the board until he joined the ObamaWhite House staff in December 2013.
The Center for American Progress has a youth-engagement organization,Generation Progress, and a sister advocacy organization, the Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAPAF).
The Center for American Progress was created in 2003 as aDemocratic alternative toconservative think tanks such asThe Heritage Foundation and theAmerican Enterprise Institute (AEI).[5]
Citing Podesta's influence in theObama administration,Michael Scherer in a November 2008 article inTime stated that "not since the Heritage Foundation helped guideRonald Reagan's transition in 1981 has a single outside group held so much sway".[6][undue weight? –discuss] In 2011, theWashington Post's Jason Horowitz described the Center for American Progress as "Washington's leading liberal think tank", and "an incessant advocate for a broad progressive agenda and as such, a sharp thorn in President Obama's left side."[7]Sarah Rosen Wartell, a co-founder and former executive vice-president of the CAP, was later named president of theUrban Institute[8]
In 2021,Politico described CAP as "the most influential think tank of theBiden era."[9]
As of 2025, CAP's board of directors includes Democratic politicianJulian Castro,Sandler Foundation president Steve Daetz, businessmanAndrew Hauptman, formerBain Capital partner Kristin Mugford, CAP founderJohn Podesta, billionaire hedge fund managerDonald Sussman, CAP president and CEONeera Tanden, and Swiss billionaireHansjörg Wyss.[10][11] On September 29, 2025, theJamal Khashoggi-foundedDemocracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) called on CAP to reconsider their decision to appoint formerSecretary of StateAntony Blinken to their board of directors.[12]
ThinkProgress, active from 2005 to 2019, was an American progressive news website affiliated with the Center for American Progress but with editorial independence. In September 2019,ThinkProgress was shut down when CAP could not find a publisher willing to take it over. The news site was then "folded into CAP's online presence" to "focus on analysis from CAP scholars and CAP Action staff."[13][14]
Generation Progress was launched in February 2005 as "the youth arm of the Center for American Progress". According to the organization, Generation Progress partners with over a millionmillennials.[15][16]
Formerly known simply as theAmerican Progress Action Fund, the Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAP Action) is a "sister advocacy organization"[17] and is organizationally and financially separate from CAP, although they share many staff and a physical address.Politico wrote in April 2011 that it "openly runs political advocacy campaigns, and plays a central role in theDemocratic Party's infrastructure, and the new reporting staff down the hall isn't exactly walled off from that message machine, nor does it necessarily keep its distance from liberal groups organizing advocacy campaigns targeting conservatives".[18] Whereas CAP is a501(c)(3) nonprofit, CAP Action is a501(c)(4),[19] allowing it to devote more funds tolobbying.[20] In 2003,George Soros promised to financially support the organization by donating up to $3 million.[21] CAP Action is headed byNeera Tanden.[22]
Launched in 2017, "The Moscow Project" is one of its initiatives.[23]
The Washington Center for Equitable Growth, also known simply as "Equitable Growth", is a grantmaking and research organization founded in 2013 and "housed at the Center for American Progress".[24] Equitable Growth funds academic research in economics and other social sciences, with a particular interest in government's role in the distribution of economic growth and the role of public perceptions of fairness in shaping government policy.[25]
In July 2018, the Center for American Progress recruited formerObama staffer andNational Council on Disability executive directorRebecca Cokley to lead its new project focused ondisability rights advocacy.[26] SenatorTammy Duckworth spoke at the first event announcing creation of the new project, which is housed within CAP's Poverty to Prosperity Program.[26] The Disability Justice Initiative became the first such project at a mainstream public policy advocacy organization not already focused on disability.[27]
The Center for American Progress is public in its opposition to the Heritage Foundation's political initiative "Project 2025,"[28] having released detailed critiques of the proposed policies.[29][30]
In 2023, CAP analysts were involved in drafting proposals for the Biden administration's economic agenda, focusing on areas such as supply chains and manufacturing.[31]
In 2017, CAP opposed Bernie Sanders' single-payer health plan.[32] Critics said that this was because of funding from the health care industry, such as theBlue Cross Blue Shield Association, theHealth Care Service Corporation andAmerica's Health Insurance Plans, who would be eliminated under Sanders' plan.[33][34] In 2018, the center proposed an alternative to single-payer that would offer patients and employers a choice between government coverage and private insurance.[35]
In 2020, CAP president Neera Tanden came out in support of "universal health care".[36] The organization has also proposed "Medicare Extra", which CAP says would add 35 million people to the insurance rolls while cutting U.S. health expenditures by over $300 billion annually.[37]
In October 2016,theIntercept reported thatUnited Arab Emirates Ambassador to the USYousef Al Otaiba praised "aCAP report released [in October 2016] that advocates for continued cooperation with Gulf states likeSaudi Arabia and theUnited Arab Emirates."[38]
In January 2019, two CAP staffers were fired after an investigation concerning the leaking of an internal email exchange involving discussions over the phrasing of CAP's response to the murder ofThe Washington Post contributing columnistJamal Khashoggi. CAP released a statement noting that while investigating the leaks, this was not the cause for the firings.[39]
Someopen government groups, such as theSunlight Foundation and theCampaign Legal Center, criticized the center's failure to disclose its contributors, particularly because it was so influential to the Obama administration.[40][41] CAP's website states that corporate donors are not allowed to remain anonymous.[42] Nathan Robinson, writing in 2018 forCurrent Affairs wrote that CAP "continues to conceal the identities of many of its largest donors." He also criticized CAP for receiving "shady donations" and for a grant of $200,000 to theAmerican Enterprise Institute in 2018.[43]
CAP has received significant funding from thePeter G. Peterson Foundation, a pro-austerity think tank associated with billionaire investment bankerPeter G. Peterson.[44]
CAP was criticized in 2012 by several Jewish organizations after its employees, Zaid Jilani and Ali Gharib, "publicly used language that could be construed asanti-Israel or evenanti-Semitic".[45][46] Bloggers associated with CAP published several posts using phrases such as "apartheid" and "Israel-firsters", which theAmerican Jewish Committee described as "hateful" and called on CAP to disassociate themselves from these statements.[47] The latter phrase, "Israel-firsters", which was used in reference to US supporters of Israel, was also criticized by theAnti-Defamation League and described as antisemitic, including byFaiz Shakir, then the vice president of CAP.[46] Officials at CAP said the "inappropriate" language came only in personal tweets—not on CAP's website or its ThinkProgress blog. The Tweets were deleted, and the authors apologized.[45]
In 2015, however, other writers criticized CAP for what they saw as censorship of reasonable comments critical ofIsraeli settlements in theoccupied West Bank and other policies. Based on leaked emails, columnistGlenn Greenwald, for example, wrote that CAP had deleted references to Israeli settlement policies in reports by their staffers.[48][49][50][51]
Greenwald and others also criticized CAP for hosting a meeting with Israeli prime ministerBenjamin Netanyahu. At the same time, Netanyahu was hostile to the Obama Administration.[52] Greenwald described CAP's positions as "servitude toAIPAC and pandering to Netanyahu."[48] Eighteen organizations and over one hundred academics signed an open letter, circulated byJewish Voice for Peace and theArab American Institute, against the meeting. 26,300 people signed a petition opposing the meeting.[52]
After the release of thePodesta emails, the Center for American Progress was criticized for emails sent between John Halpin, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, andJennifer Palmieri, a Hillary Clinton campaign team member.[53]The Washington Post characterized the comments as "joking"; Kellyanne Conway and others called them anti-Catholic attacks.[53][54]
In April 2018,BuzzFeed News reported that female employees of CAP had complained ofsexual harassment by CAP employee Benton Strong to human resources and management.[55] Two anonymous employees alleged retaliation for reporting Strong's behavior,[55][56] one of them including her allegations in an exit memo when leaving CAP. However, CAP maintains that no retaliation occurred, and an internal investigation concluded the same.[55] In response to the first complaint, Strong received a warning from CAP management. After the second complaint, he was suspended for three days without pay.[57][55] He was already resigning to take up a position elsewhere, and these three days coincided with the final three days of his employment with CAP.
After the publication of theBuzzFeed story, CAP presidentNeera Tanden unintentionally used the first name of one of the anonymous women during an all-staff meeting to address their handling of the sexual harassment allegations.[58]
In February 2020,The New York Times reported that the center had removed reporting ofNew York City police surveillance of Muslim communities from a 2015 report, allegedly out of deference toMichael Bloomberg, who had given the center grants worth $1.5 million.Yasmine Taeb, an author of the report, said that they were instructed to remove the chapter or make dramatic revisions, alleging this was "because of how it was going to be perceived by Mayor Bloomberg." CAP officials disputed her account, characterizing the changes as editorial decisions: detailed discussion of NYC policing was off-topic because the report had been "commissioned to examine right-wing groups targeting Muslims with explicit bigotry and conspiracy theories." Bloomberg toldThe New York Times reporters he was unaware of any such dispute at CAP; in 2017, he contributed an additional $400,000.[59]
The Center for American Progress is a 501(c)(3) organization under theUS Internal Revenue Code.[19] In 2014, CAP received $45 million from a variety of sources, including individuals, foundations, labor unions, and corporations.[60] From 2003 to 2007, CAP received about $15 million in grants from 58 foundations.[61] Major individual donors includeGeorge Soros,Peter Lewis,Steve Bing, andHerb and Marion Sandler. The center receives undisclosed sums from corporate donors.[61] In December 2013, the organization released a list of its corporate donors, which include Walmart, CitiGroup,Wells Fargo, defense contractorNorthrop Grumman,America's Health Insurance Plans, andEli Lilly and Company.[62]
In 2015, CAP released a partial list of its donors, which included 28 anonymous donors accounting for at least $5 million in contributions. Named donors included theBill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Embassy of theUnited Arab Emirates, each giving between $500,000 and $999,999. CAP's top donors includeWalmart andCitigroup, each of which has given between $100,000 and $499,000.[63][64] Other large CAP donors includeGoldman Sachs,Bank of America,Google,Time Warner, andPharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.[48][65]
As of 2024, corporate donors to CAP includedGoogle,Apple andNBC Universal.[66]
| *2015 donors (excluding anonymous)[67] | Level |
|---|---|
| Ford Foundation | $1,000,000+ |
| The Hutchins Family Foundation | $1,000,000+ |
| Sandler Foundation | $1,000,000+ |
| TomKat Charitable Trust | $1,000,000+ |
| Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation | $500,000 to $999,999 |
| Joyce Foundation | $500,000 to $999,999 |
| Not on Our Watch | $500,000 to $999,999 |
| Open Square Charitable Gift Fund | $500,000 to $999,999 |
| Embassy ofUnited Arab Emirates | $500,000 to $999,999 |
| Walton Family Foundation | $500,000 to $999,999 |
| The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation | $500,000 to $999,999 |
Jones, who has been consulting for companies and nonprofits on environmental issues, will start teaching at Princeton University in June and is rejoining the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, next month.
'The liberal Center for American Progress estimates (optimistically) that the effect of the entire package could be to save or create 2.2 million jobs.
Obama made the charge after his campaign cited a new study to reporters by the liberal group Center for American Progress Action Fund, an organization with close ties to his campaign.
If Obama carries the popular vote by a narrow margin, it could have implications on his ability to govern effectively, according to Ruy Teixeira, a senior fellow at the liberal Center for American Progress.
Neera Tanden, the president of the liberal research group Center for American Progress, called the election 'a decisive mandate for a fair tax system where the wealthy contribute to address our deficit challenges.'
Patrick Gaspard, a longtime Democratic operative who served most recently as president of the George Soros-run Open Society Foundations, will take over as president and CEO of the Center for American Progress.
Liberal news website ThinkProgress is shutting down after its parent organization said it was unable to find a new publisher for the site.
The latest batch of documents published by WikiLeaks appears to show Hillary Clinton's campaign communications director joking with a confidant about Catholics and evangelicals in emails sent to John Podesta, chairman of Clinton's campaign.
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