Thursday, July 17, 2025

Think Tank Quickies (#520)

  • Pro-Trump think tanks and advocacy groups paid top Trump Administration officials including White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and policy adviser Stephen Miller, and a number of officials received payments from Trump's campaigns and consultants before being appointed to positions in the administration.
  • Think tankers, including Julianne Smith, are part of former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's consulting firm, Clarion Strategies. 
  • Think tankers join the Washington Post's new WP Intelligence Councils. 
  • Quorum is now curating research from top think tanks. 
  • Tracking the murky world of think tanks. 
  • Islamabad think tank hires US lobbyist for $1.5 million a year. 
  • Columbia's Sabin Center for Climate Change Law teams up to launch "Model Climate Laws Initiative" to draft state laws countering Trump Administration rollbacks.  While there have been universities and think tanks, such as the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, that provide resources for state-level policymakers looking to write climate laws or exchange information, this is the first instance of such a coordinated project to pass climate legislation that is actively seeking to get draft laws in the hands of US state lawmakers.
  • Institute for Progress (IFP): "A think tank for accelerating scientific, technological, and industrial progress." 
  • The Abigail Adams Institute: "An independent institute that is part of a broader network of about a dozen centers near elite universities, including Yale, Princeton, and Stanford.  The goal is to create an intellectual community that supplements what students can find on their own campuses." 
  • Columbia University's energy think tank: Center on Global Energy Policy.