washington<u+2014>the<u+00a0>heritage<u+00a0>foundation, a longtime player in the conservative policy world, is poised to have a major influence on personnel in president-elect donald trump <u+2019>s administration, easing concerns among some conservatives about the ideological direction of the new government. a think tank that emerged in the 1970s as the premier conservative policy and research operation in washington, d.c., the group has more recently become a political player in its own right. now headed by jim demint, a former u.s. senator who made his name as a conservative firebrand while serving in congress,<u+00a0>heritage<u+00a0>has become a hybrid of an administration-in-waiting for mr. trump, a policy factory for the new republican-led congress and a political advocacy group whose aim is to push the gop in a more conservative direction. the group has a nonpartisan nonprofit, called the<u+00a0>heritage<u+00a0>foundation, and a six-year-old advocacy arm, heritage<u+00a0>action. <u+201c>i think he<u+2019>s fortunate to have had this group ready to go with ideas and suggestions with personnel that wouldn<u+2019>t be just a retread,<u+201d> said david mcintosh, president of the conservative advocacy group club for growth. representatives for mr. trump didn<u+2019>t respond to a request for comment. mr. mcintosh said he recognized that mr. trump was building an ideologically diverse administration, reaching out to moderate republicans, some democrats and people with nonpolitical backgrounds. but the involvement of<u+00a0>heritage<u+00a0>was a comfort to many conservatives who worried about mr. trump<u+2019>s commitment to the movement<u+2019>s principles such as free movement of capital, fiscal responsibility and limited government. <u+201c>for a conservative like me, it<u+2019>s a great sign that he<u+2019>s willing to have a lot of them there,<u+201d> said mr. mcintosh. the<u+00a0>heritage<u+00a0>foundation has dozens of current or former staff members working on the transition or in consideration for top positions, including one of the think tank<u+2019>s co-founders, ed feulner, who is helping shape personnel. his deputy is becky norton dunlop, who previously served as a former policy fellow at<u+00a0>heritage. former ohio secretary of state ken blackwell, now working on domestic issues for the transition, is also a former<u+00a0>heritage<u+00a0>fellow. paul winfree, heritage<u+2019>s director of economic policy studies, is overseeing a unit tasked with budget issues. former labor secretary elaine chao, who served as a fellow at<u+00a0>heritage, has also been talked about as a top candidate for a position in the trump administration. james wallner, head of research at the<u+00a0>heritage<u+00a0>foundation, said the involvement of the foundation<u+2019>s robust network of fellows, staffers and alumni offered hints at the direction mr. trump plans to take in governing. <u+201c>i think it<u+2019>s an encouraging sign about the direction in which the new administration and president-elect trump intends to go,<u+201d> said mr. wallner, a former capitol hill staffer. mr. trump<u+2019>s unorthodox run for president upended the political calculus within the republican party, as he broke from gop orthodoxy on issues like free trade. mr. trump has also showed less interest in traditional republican priorities like deficit reduction and entitlement reform and more interest in pursuing an ambitious infrastructure agenda that might require additional government spending. that has created a split between some in the conservative movement and mr. trump, especially over trade.<u+00a0>heritage<u+00a0>has long been supportive of free trade<u+2014>something mr. wallner said remains unchanged, even as network alumni play a role in mr. trump<u+2019>s budding administration. in recent years, heritage has taken a more conservative and sometimes combative tone in support of traditional republican policy planks. heritage<u+00a0>action helped push lawmakers into an unpopular government shutdown in 2013 over efforts to defund president barack obama <u+2019>s health-care law. during the debate over the shutdown and proposed defunding,<u+00a0>the advocacy arm<u+2019>s more aggressive tactics against fellow republicans rankled some legislators, with north carolina gop rep. renee ellmers accusing<u+00a0>heritage<u+00a0>action on twitter of attacking conservatives. heritage action ceo mike needham said the group is looking forward <u+201c>to working to deliver on the promises republicans have been running on since 2010, including the full repeal of obamacare.<u+201d> none of that would have been possible, he said, if conservatives had <u+201c>given up the fight...and considered obamacare settled.<u+201d> heritage<u+2019>s increasing involvement in politics hasn't been without its critics. former republican rep. mickey edwards, one of the co-founders of<u+00a0>heritage, said that at one point it was an independent think tank but has increasingly become <u+201c>an arm of the republican party and the conservative movement.<u+201d> <u+201c>they see a trump administration not as something that you weigh against what have been traditional conservative principles, but as a conservative victory,<u+201d> said mr. edwards, who is now at the aspen institute, a nonpartisan think tank. but mr. edwards said the<u+00a0>heritage<u+00a0>foundation<u+2019>s network of conservative alumni might have an influence on mr. trump as well. <u+201c>one of the things that is most interesting about this administration coming in is that it<u+2019>s headed by a guy that doesn<u+2019>t seem to have much knowledge of any kind about policy,<u+201d> he said. mr. trump has vowed to fill his cabinet with qualified individuals, and has describe the transition as an <u+201c>organized process.<u+201d> write to byron tau at byron.tau@wsj.com
conservative heritage foundation wields clout in budding trump administration  - wsj
byron tau