On three separate occasions in the past week, The New York Times wrote about The Heritage Foundation’s influence on public policy.
Sunday’s cover story in The New York Times Magazine explained Heritage’s role in staffing the Trump administration.
Two other articles noted the White House’s use of our Blueprint for Reorganization as a guidebook for the Trump administration’s plan to reorganize the federal government.
“Today it is clear that for all the chaos and churn of the current administration, Heritage has achieved a huge strategic victory,” writes Jonathan Mahler in The New York Times Magazine cover story.
“[The Heritage Foundation] is, as ever, the nation’s last line of defense against the advancing forces of progressivism.” https://t.co/9lyFwR1Uzp
— Kay Coles James (@KayColesJames) June 21, 2018
“While the fireworks of the news cycle are the daily center of attention, Heritage is quietly, strategically, and steadfastly making lasting conservative changes to the culture and operation of government,” says Heritage media director Greg Scott. “And the most influential media are taking notice.”
In this week's "Behind the Cover," @jakesilverstein and @GailBichler discuss visualizing @jonathanmahler's story about how the Heritage Foundation is stocking Trump's government. https://t.co/WPxD5vaE58 pic.twitter.com/hu5Islgjva
— NYT Magazine (@NYTmag) June 20, 2018
In addition to the lengthy magazine story, the Times published a 2,000-word article about the Trump administration’s government-reorganization plan. It features Lindsey Burke, director of Heritage’s Center for Education Policy and Will Skillman fellow, and Paul Winfree, director of Heritage’s Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies as well as its Richard F. Aster fellow.
“By early 2017, Heritage produced a government-reorganization plan that served as the initial template for Thursday’s announcement. They also drafted a list of 334 policy recommendations, about half of them aimed at domestic programs for poor people or Obama-era regulations protecting low-income consumers,” writes the Times.
Winfree says that while others were focusing their attention on “palace intrigue” and personalities in the Trump administration, Heritage was hard at work.
“We did our homework and were prepared for the test,” says Winfree. “Having one big personality isn’t enough to change a government. Having many good people, who know and trust each other, in the right places is the key.”
The third New York Times article again focused on Heritage’s influence on the administration's efforts to reorganize the government—this time highlighting Heritage’s recommendations for welfare reform and the food stamp program.
“At the heart of the plan is expected to be an attempt to shift [the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program], which serves more than 42 million poor and working-class Americans, to the new agency from the Agriculture Department.
“Conservative think tanks, including the Heritage Foundation and Koch-related entities, have long sought to de-link food aid from agriculture in hopes of cutting costs.”
The New York Times isn’t the only publication taking note of Heritage’s impact. The Wall Street Journal wrote about Heritage’s influence twice. Politico and The Hill also acknowledged Heritage’s impact.
