DALLAS —
Among the constellation of outside conservative groups present at the first-ever midterm Republican National Convention was Heritage Action, whose spokesman Doug Blair spoke with the Washington Reporter about Heritage Action’s priorities for the rest of this Congress, as well as how the organization is planning for the rest of President Donald Trump’s term, regardless of whether Republicans win in November.
The biggest priority for Heritage Action, which is the lobbying arm of the conservative Heritage Foundation, is “AI chips, and preventing the Chinese Communist Party from obtaining access to American semiconductor and AI technology,” Blair told the Reporter. “It is absolutely essential that the NDAA, the National Defense Authorization Act, includes provisions that prevent American tech companies from selling these to China.”
“However, there are other things that we absolutely need to get passed before midterms, most primary among them is the SAVE America Act,” Blair added. “This is something that the president has called an existential threat. The other part of Heritage Action’s mission is that we talk with conservative grassroots in the states, and they tell us what they’re thinking, and we try to get their wants and needs passed, both in Washington and at the state level. They have told us as well that the SAVE America Act is something that they need to see passed immediately. It should have been passed months ago, but here we are. That is the next thing. The final thing that we’re looking at right now is codifying President Trump’s border policy. Currently, the situation at the southern border is really, really good.”
“President Trump stopped millions and millions and millions of illegal immigrants coming into this country,” Blair explained. “He sealed the southern border up, lock and key, but it was done through executive orders, and those are very easy to revoke. The next president who comes into power, God forbid, if it’s a Democrat, could decide ‘we’re just going to open the floodgates again, just like Joe Biden did.’ What Congressman Chip Roy has done is he’s introduced legislation to codify all of these executive orders, so that they are going to be backed by the force of law. This would mean that a Democrat cannot come into office and open the floodgates again, like we saw under Joe Biden. Those are the three policy priorities that we’re focusing on right now, and we are here to encourage members of Congress to get those things passed, and pass the America First agenda.”
Those are the legislative priorities that Blair said that Heritage Action came to the RNC to talk about. Blair’s goal, along with his colleagues, was to come to Dallas “to talk with members of Congress and to encourage them to do what needs to be done to both maintain the majority come the midterms, then also to deliver on the mandate that the American people gave them and the Trump administration when it comes to the issues facing this country.”
While those issues are at the forefront of Heritage Action’s to-do list, Blair said that “it’s all the economy” when it comes to the midterms. “The economy is the most important thing,” Blair explained. “If Americans feel like they’re getting walloped in the pocketbook, they’re going to be very upset. And this is another place where Congress has responsibility to start unleashing the American economy again. President Trump came into office promising to slash quite a few regulations.”
“We believe at Heritage Action and at the Heritage Foundation, that free enterprise is a cornerstone of our republic,” Blair added. “This is something that the Founding Fathers were very clear on: that you have the right to life, liberty, and pursuit of property. These are things that, if you are being throttled by the government, that you are unable to start businesses, that you’re not going to be as successful. The affordability argument is going to be present, as it should be. Congress needs to take steps to ensure that the regulations that are stymieing American business and that are preventing the free market from doing what it needs to do are repealed. Then we’ll be able to see some really, really solid American economic growth.”
One of the best salespeople for that vision, Blair said, is President Donald Trump. “President Trump is doing a wonderful job, and I think that President Trump is also aware that he has a capacity to really pull voters into his into his orbit and to get people to promote his agenda,” Blair said, following the president’s nearly two hour speech. “This is why he was able to win the White House twice in an unprecedented manner, in 2016 and then in 2024. President Trump’s speech was perfectly designed to encourage voters to go out and really advance the agenda. He laid out multiple different things that his administration has done, including on the border, including on protecting our interests abroad.”
“Now,” Blair said, “it’s up to Congress. Now it’s up to the representatives to get done what the president wants them to do, and more importantly, what the American people want them to do. They want us safe from illegal immigration at the southern border. They do not want the Chinese Communist Party to have access to our technology, and most importantly, they want to trust their elections. They want secure, clean elections, and Congress has to do its job.”
As Blair and Heritage Action look to 2027, he said that they “view the dichotomy between Republicans and Democrats in a very simple way. It’s common sense versus crazy. Let’s just pick any topic. We’ve been talking about the border quite a bit. If you are a common sense-leaning individual, you would say the border should be closed. You should be able to control who comes into your country. If you have a crazy perspective, like the Democrats do, you would say every single person from the third world should be able to enter the country, unfettered. Gangbangers, rapists, drug cartels members, criminals, whatever. We find that when people in power have a crazy worldview, it is less important to make sure that the legislation is passed that we like. Of course, it is.”
Should Democrats win control of one or both chambers of Congress, Blair laid out how Heritage Action plans to respond. “We don’t want to say that we’re never going to try and make sure that good legislation is passed,” he said. “But what we are going to say is, it becomes essential to block a lot of the legislation that is going to come out of the crazy radical leftists that are going to take over. Zorhan Mamdani is a great example of somebody who has taken power in New York, and he has instituted lots of crazy policies. God forbid Abdul El-Sayed wins in Michigan. He is a virulent anti-Semite, and he has campaigned with people who say that Americans deserve 9/11. If these people are able to take power in Washington, we’re going to be on the offense to make sure that they don’t do anything too crazy, but we’re going to be on the defense as well to make sure that we still have a country.”
“The best way to ensure that those people do not gain power is that Republicans need to prove the mandate that they were sent to Washington to enforce is being done,” he added. “That includes passing SAVE America. It includes passing the NDAA protections to ensure that Chinese don’t purchase our AI chips. That includes passing the permanent Trump border security items. These are things that would be preventative, and it would make it so it would be a lot easier for us to block the El-Sayed, the Mamdanis, all of these DSA candidates that are running across the country.”
Below is a transcript of our interview with Doug Blair, lightly edited for clarity.
Washington Reporter:
Doug, can you tell us why was it important for you and for Heritage Action to be here at the first ever RNC midterm convention?
Doug Blair:
Heritage Action is the lobbying arm of the Heritage Foundation, and as many people know, the Heritage Foundation is the premier conservative policy think tank, and we take that policy and make it into action at Heritage Action. The reason we’re here is to talk with members of Congress and to encourage them to do what needs to be done to both maintain the majority come the midterms, then also to deliver on the mandate that the American people gave them and the Trump administration when it comes to the issues facing this country.
Washington Reporter:
What are some of those issues? In the Washington Reporter we covered some of your moves on AI and chips, but what are the other priorities between now and the election?
Doug Blair:
The big one, like you mentioned, is AI chips, and preventing the Chinese Communist Party from obtaining access to American semiconductor and AI technology. It is absolutely essential that the NDAA, the National Defense Authorization Act, includes provisions that prevent American tech companies from selling these to China. However, there are other things that we absolutely need to get passed before midterms, most primary among them is the SAVE America Act. This is something that the president has called an existential threat. The other part of Heritage Action’s mission is that we talk with conservative grassroots in the states, and they tell us what they’re thinking, and we try to get their wants and needs passed, both in Washington and at the state level. They have told us as well that the SAVE America Act is something that they need to see passed immediately. It should have been passed months ago, but here we are. That is the next thing. The final thing that we’re looking at right now is codifying President Trump’s border policy. Currently, the situation at the southern border is really, really good. President Trump stopped millions and millions and millions of illegal immigrants coming into this country; he sealed the southern border up, lock and key, but it was done through executive orders, and those are very easy to revoke. The next president who comes into power, God forbid, if it’s a Democrat, could decide ‘we’re just going to open the floodgates again, just like Joe Biden did.’ What Congressman Chip Roy has done is he’s introduced legislation to codify all of these executive orders, so that they are going to be backed by the force of law. This would mean that a Democrat cannot come into office and open the floodgates again, like we saw under Joe Biden. Those are the three policy priorities that we’re focusing on right now, and we are here to encourage members of Congress to get those things passed, and pass the America First agenda.
Washington Reporter:
President Trump in his speech addressed a lot of these issues. What did you make of his speech?
Doug Blair:
President Trump is doing a wonderful job, and I think that President Trump is also aware that he has a capacity to really pull voters into his into his orbit and to get people to promote his agenda. This is why he was able to win the White House twice in an unprecedented manner, in 2016 and then in 2024. President Trump’s speech was perfectly designed to encourage voters to go out and really advance the agenda. He laid out multiple different things that his administration has done, including on the border, including on protecting our interests abroad. Now it’s up to Congress. Now it’s up to the representatives to get done what the president wants them to do, and more importantly, what the American people want them to do. They want us safe from illegal immigration at the southern border. They do not want the Chinese Communist Party to have access to our technology, and most importantly, they want to trust their elections. They want secure, clean elections, and Congress has to do its job.
Washington Reporter:
President Trump also addressed the affordability issues during his speech last night and on the campaign trail. Trump has talked about things like Trump Rx, there was a bipartisan housing bill. Where do you at Heritage Action see that affordability agenda going in the next two months and in the next two years?
Doug Blair:
It’s all the economy. The economy is the most important thing. If Americans feel like they’re getting walloped in the pocketbook, they’re going to be very upset. And this is another place where Congress has responsibility to start unleashing the American economy again. President Trump came into office promising to slash quite a few regulations. We believe at Heritage Action and at the Heritage Foundation, that free enterprise is a cornerstone of our republic. This is something that the Founding Fathers were very clear on: that you have the right to life, liberty, and pursuit of property. These are things that, if you are being throttled by the government, that you are unable to start businesses, that you’re not going to be as successful. The affordability argument is going to be present, as it should be. Congress needs to take steps to ensure that the regulations that are stymieing American business and that are preventing the free market from doing what it needs to do are repealed. Then we’ll be able to see some really, really solid American economic growth.
Washington Reporter:
How does Heritage Action view the potential for a Democratic Congress, either both chambers or even just one, versus ongoing unified Republican control for the final two years of Trump? Those are the only two outcomes; how how do you view them?
Doug Blair:
We view the dichotomy between Republicans and Democrats in a very simple way. It’s common sense versus crazy. Let’s just pick any topic. We’ve been talking about the border quite a bit. If you are a common sense-leaning individual, you would say the border should be closed. You should be able to control who comes into your country. If you have a crazy perspective, like the Democrats do, you would say every single person from the third world should be able to enter the country, unfettered. Gangbangers, rapists, drug cartels members, criminals, whatever. We find that when people in power have a crazy worldview, it is less important to make sure that the legislation is passed that we like. Of course, it is. We don’t want to say that we’re never going to try and make sure that good legislation is passed. But what we are going to say is, it becomes essential to block a lot of the legislation that is going to come out of the crazy radical leftists that are going to take over. Zorhan Mamdani is a great example of somebody who has taken power in New York, and he has instituted lots of crazy policies. God forbid Abdul El-Sayed wins in Michigan. He is a virulent anti-Semite, and he has campaigned with people who say that Americans deserve 9/11. If these people are able to take power in Washington, we’re going to be on the offense to make sure that they don’t do anything too crazy, but we’re going to be on the defense as well to make sure that we still have a country. The best way to ensure that those people do not gain power is that Republicans need to prove the mandate that they were sent to Washington to enforce is being done. That includes passing SAVE America. It includes passing the NDAA protections to ensure that Chinese don’t purchase our AI chips. That includes passing the permanent Trump border security items. These are things that would be preventative, and it would make it so it would be a lot easier for us to block the El-Sayed, the Mamdanis, all of these DSA candidates that are running across the country.
