K-STREET, 10,000 FEET: Inside the far-left Arnold Ventures’s attempts to cozy up to Republicans
The Lowdown:
Arnold Ventures, a firm founded by liberal Texas billionaire John Arnold, is courting Republicans on Capitol Hill amid budget talks.
A former House GOP leadership aide told the Washington Reporter that “Republicans should not listen to John Arnold and Arnold Ventures” as the company founder has “pushed far-left policies, masquerading as bipartisan.”
A spokeswoman for Arnold Ventures said that “partisanship often stands in the way of solutions, and we work to help bridge these divides.”
As the second Trump administration kicks off, the symphony of ring-kissing is reaching a bellowing crescendo. This movement now features Arnold Ventures, founded by Texas billionaire John Arnold. Arnold and his wife will be on Capitol Hill this week meeting with members of Congress to discuss their new proposals outlined in media reports earlier this week.
The Arnolds are pushing a report, titled “Achieving Fiscally Responsible Tax Reform: Top 20 Proposals to Reduce Wasteful Spending, Close Tax Loopholes, and Save up to $4 Trillion,” outlining 20 proposals to address “tax loopholes” they say could lessen the blow from the costs of extending the 2017 Trump tax cuts.
Republicans, however, are unconvinced at the Arnold Ventures push to cozy up to them, especially in light of Arnold’s ties to Meta’s Board of Directors as well as his history of promoting far-left causes like “criminal justice reform” in New York and “’disinformation’ censorship operations” while positioning himself as bipartisan.
In fact, some Republican operatives are warning members against listening to Arnold or Arnold Ventures. A Senate leadership aide told the Washington Reporter that “Arnold Ventures’s priorities include censorship, rigging elections with ranked choice voting, and letting violent criminals out of prison.”
“This will be useful for Republicans to know what to avoid,” the Senate aide added.
“Republicans should not listen to John Arnold and Arnold Ventures,” a former House GOP leadership aide told the Reporter. “Arnold pushed far-left policies, masquerading as bipartisan.”
“Why would any Republican listen to a group that funded censorship and weak on crime policies?” the former aide said.
Arnold Ventures’s activities on Capitol Hill come as the second Trump administration continues to march forward. The presence of Arnold Ventures in the offices of congressional Republicans does provide an interesting signal: now that President Trump is here to stay, everyone is trying to get a piece of his influence.
A spokeswoman for Arnold Ventures told the Reporter that “Arnold Ventures follows an evidence-based approach to identifying solutions for many of our nation’s most intractable challenges.”
“Partisanship often stands in the way of solutions, and we work to help bridge these divides,” the spokeswoman said. “By leveraging data and research, we work with leaders across the political spectrum to overcome deeply entrenched special interests and implement sustainable solutions that improve the lives of American families, strengthen their communities, and promote economic opportunity.”
“Igniting robust policy debate on often difficult topics, informed by new ideas and the facts, is central to our mission, so it would be fundamentally false to suggest the organization, or its founders, do not support free speech,” she added.