Heritage Foundation Honors Ryan's Top Staffer, But Disses Budget

Here is more from Jake Sherman of Politico:

The conservative Heritage Foundation is throwing a "reception" to honor Speaker Paul Ryan's chief of staff David Hoppe, even as its lobbying arm tries to derail the House Republican leadership's 2017 budget.

Heritage Foundation President Jim DeMint and former president Ed Feulner are listed as the hosts of the Thursday evening event, which is scheduled to be held at the Heritage Foundation's Pennsylvania Avenue headquarters, according to a source familiar with the event.

Hoppe, who joined Ryan's (R-Wis.) staff when he became speaker, is a longtime Capitol Hill hand. He worked for former Rep. Jack Kemp (R-N.Y.) — Ryan's political mentor — former Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and former Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.). He also worked as a lobbyist for many years and he was a staffer at the Heritage Foundation.

Here is a previous Think Tank Watch piece on Speaker Ryan's deep ties to think tank land.  Here is a Politico piece entitled "Heritage Complicates House GOP's Plans to Break Budget Impasse."

Speaker Ryan's Top Foreign Policy Aides Come From Think Tanks

Here is more from the Washington Post:

Ryan will also be keeping the counsel of some of the Republican Party’s most recognized foreign policy experts, many of them veterans of the 2012 campaign in which he was Mitt Romney’s running mate.

That roster, according to Ryan aides, includes: Dan Senor, a prominent foreign policy adviser to the Romney campaign who previously worked as spokesman for the Coalition Provision Authority in Iraq; Elliott Abrams of the Council on Foreign Relations, who worked as a national security adviser to former President George W. Bush; and Eric Edelman, a former ambassador who served in Bush’s Defense Department.

Dan Senor used to be an Adjunct Senior Fellow for Middle East Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).  He also established a think tank called Foreign Policy Initiative, along with William Kristol and Robert Kagan.

As the article mentions, Elliott Abrams works at CFR, where he is a Senior Fellow for Middle East Studies.

Eric Edelman, a Distinguished Fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA).  Among other things, he is also a member of the Board of Directors at the US Institute of Peace (USIP).

Here is a previous Think Tank Watch post on Ryan's deep connection to think tanks.

Speaker Ryan and His Deep Think Tank Connections

For years Think Tank Watch has written about how Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) has been the darling of conservative think tanks, including the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and to the Heritage Foundation.  In fact, AEI's annual dinner in 2013 was solely meant to honor Rep. Ryan.

He is also close to scholars at the Hudson Institute and has had dinner with the head of American Action Forum.  He has also spoken at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) as well as the center-left think tank Brookings Institution.

Ryan has also spoken at state-level think tanks, including the Center of the American Experiment (in Minnesota).  And he has embraced other think tanks outside of the beltway, such as the Manhattan Institute, which was reportedly advising some of his staff.

His think tanking is so prolific that during the 2012 vice presidential debates, Ryan was described as "Think Tank Ryan."  Even David Hoppe, Ryan's new chief of staff, reportedly has connections with think tanks.

But Ryan's deep relationship with think tanks has not been all friendly.  And his relationship with the Heritage Foundation is actually quite nuanced.  For example, in 2013, Heritage Action, the lobbying arm of Heritage Foundation, came out against Ryan's budget plan.

As you may remember, former House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) was often attacked by Heritage, and the think tank may have even helped destroy his career in Congress.

So the big question going forward is will Heritage play naughty or nice with Ryan.  Heritage Action has recently said that it is time for "moving away from the US Chamber of Commerce's preferred agenda," and it will surely be watching Ryan closely.

Think Tank Quickies (#195)

• Think tanks close to the Chinese government calling for a two-child policy.
• "America's colleges are liberal think tanks."
• Phebe Novakovic, CEO of General Dynamics, "notably scarce" on the Washington think tank circuit.
• Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-WI) soon-to-be chief of staff David Hoppe has, like many lobbyists, "moved back and forth between government, think tanks, and K Street."  
• Think tank R Street Institute: 15 Reasons Why CRS Reports Should be Public.  (One reason is "they cannot freely share their work with peers in academia and think tanks.")
• Foreign Policy: Qatar boosts outreach to US think tanks.
• Abdulateef Al-Mulhim: Saudi Arabia doesn't have any proper think tanks.
• Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) calling for ExxonMobil probe for its funding of certain think tanks.
• Ryan Lance, CEO of ConocoPhillips on ending ban on crude oil exports: "All the universities, the think tanks have studied it.  It's good for the consumer, it's good for the country, it's good for government."
• Brookings says end war on medical marijuana research.