Americans for Prosperity (AFP), founded in 2004, is a libertarian conservative political advocacy group in the United States affiliated with brothers Charles Koch and the late David Koch. As the Koch family's primary political advocacy group, it has been viewed as one of the most influential American conservative organizations.
After the 2009 inauguration of President Barack Obama, AFP helped transform the Tea Party movement into a political force. It organized significant opposition to Obama administration initiatives such as global warming regulation, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the expansion of Medicaid, and economic stimulus. It helped turn back cap and trade, the major environmental proposal of Obama's first term. AFP advocated for limits on the collective bargaining rights of public-sector trade unions and for right-to-work laws and opposed raising the federal minimum wage. AFP played an active role in achieving the Republican majority in the House of Representatives in 2010 and in the Senate in 2014.
In the 2014 midterm election cycle, AFP led all groups other than political action committees (PACs) in spending on political television advertising. AFP's scope of operations has drawn comparisons to political parties. AFP, an educational social welfare organization, and the associated Americans for Prosperity Foundation, a public charity, are tax-exempt nonprofits. As a tax-exempt nonprofit, AFP is not legally required to disclose its donors to the general public; the extent of its political activities while operating as a tax-exempt entity has raised concerns among some campaign finance watchdogs as to the transparency of its funding.
Background, founding, and growth Americans for Prosperity was founded in 2004 when internal rivalries caused a split in the conservative political advocacy group Citizens for a Sound Economy (CSE), creating Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks. AFP's founding was funded by businessmen and philanthropist brothers David H. Koch and Charles Koch, of Koch Industries. The Americans for Prosperity Foundation is the Koch brothers' primary political advocacy group. According to a spokesperson from Koch Industries, the Koch companies do not direct the activities of AFP.
AFP's original stated mission was "educating citizens about economic policy and mobilizing citizens as advocates in the public policy process". Its current stated mission is "to mobilize citizens to advocate for policies that cut red tape and increase opportunity, put the brakes on government overspending, and get the economy working for hard workers – not special interests". It is focused on "fiscal responsibility," and in particular on cutting taxes, reducing regulation of business, and limiting the power of the courts.Meyer, D. S., and A. Pullum. "The Tea Party and the Dilemmas of Conservative Populism," in Understanding the Tea Party Movement, edited by D. S. Meyer and N. Van Dyke. (London: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2014), p. 89. According to FactCheck.org, "AFP seeks to support free markets and entrepreneurship by advocating lower taxes and limited government spending and regulation." Its leaders view the organization as a counterbalance to the progressive movement's unions and activist organizations. According to NBC News, The New York Times and others, some of AFP's policy positions align with the business interests of the Koch brothers and Koch Industries, including its support for rescinding energy regulations and environmental restrictions; expanding domestic energy production; lowering taxes; and reducing government spending, especially Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
From 2004 to 2007, AFP was led by Nancy Pfotenhauer. In 2005, the Kochs hired political strategist Tim Phillips to work at AFP.
AFP had a staff of 116 employees in September 2012, and the next year it had chapters in 34 states and reported a membership of 2.3 million. In June 2014, it had 240 employees in 32 states. AFP has been active in national, state, and local elections. AFP registered to lobby in 2014. According to FactCheck.org, by 2011, AFP had "emerged as one of the most influential conservative issue advocacy groups on the national and state political scene". The Los Angeles Times said AFP performed roles typical of national and state political parties. ABC News said in August 2014 that AFP was "poised to be the most influential conservative group in the nation this year, and among the most influential and heaviest spending across the political spectrum this year and into the looming presidential race".
As of mid-September 2018, AFP has become one of just 15 groups that account for three-quarters of the anonymous cash following the 2010 Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. FEC, which paved the way for dark money to flow into U.S. elections.Dark Money Illuminated. Issue One
In 2023 in Wyoming, Tyler Lindholm formed the 36th state chapter of Americans for Prosperity.
Leadership, structure and funding
Tim Phillips was the president of AFP and the AFP Foundation from 2006 to 2021, when he was forced to resign.
AFP has been called both the political and educational arm of the AFP Foundation. AFP and the AFP Foundation share offices and staff.
AFP
As of 2014, New Jersey businesswoman Frayda Levin chaired the board of directors of AFP. Other directors include Pfotenhauer, former U.S. government official and economist James C. Miller III, James E. Stephenson, and Mark Holden. AFP files with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, tax-exempt, social welfare organization, and contributions to it are not tax-deductible. AFP is legally required to operate as nonpartisan: it may not endorse or oppose political candidates, its primary purpose may not be political, it must be primarily engaged in social welfare activities, and no more than half its expenditures may be political.
AFP Foundation
David H. Koch chaired the board of directors of the AFP Foundation. Other directors include Pfotenhauer, Debra Humphreys, and Cy Nobles. The AFP Foundation is an associate member of the State Policy Network, a national network of free-market oriented think tanks. As a 501(c)(3) non-profit, tax-exempt charity, contributions to the AFP Foundation are tax deductible, and such charities are largely prohibited from political activity.
AFP Action Americans for Prosperity Action is a super PAC that supports conservative candidates. It spent more than $47 million to support or oppose candidates in 2020 elections.
Transparency
Tax-exempt, nonprofit charitable organizations such as AFP are generally not required to disclose their contributors, unlike political action committees. Some campaign finance watchdogs and Democrats have criticized AFP for what they perceive to be its funding of political activities from undisclosed sources. For example, the Sunlight Foundation and others have accused non-disclosing political groups like AFP of filing for nonprofit status solely to invoke the right to hide their donors. President Obama, speaking at a Democratic National Committee fundraising dinner in August 2010, criticized AFP for its political spending and non-disclosure of donors. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee filed a complaint with the IRS charging that the AFP Foundation had funded political advertisements in violation of the law applicable to the foundation's tax-exempt classification. AFP responded that the charges were without merit. AFP President Tim Phillips later suggested that the reason for the Democrats' filing of the complaint was simply that they were scared of the impact the organization was having.
In 2010 and 2011, AFP reported to the IRS that it was not involved in political activities. Questioned by a reporter before the 2012 Wisconsin recall elections, AFP's Wisconsin director said AFP was educating the public and not engaging in political activity. In 2014, an AFP spokesperson said AFP had the right to keep its donors private, citing NAACP v. Alabama, a 1958 Supreme Court ruling that protected National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) donors from potential harassment. In 2014, Phillips said that protecting donors' identities was prudent given the Obama administration's ideology-based IRS targeting of citizens. The AFP Foundation said its supporters have received serious threats. In February 2015, a federal judge granted the Foundation's motion for a preliminary injunction staying California Attorney General Kamala Harris's request for the names and addresses of Foundation donors, pending resolution of the legality of the request.
Funding While AFP does not disclose its funding sources, some supporters have acknowledged their contributions and investigative journalism has documented others. AFP has been funded by the Kochs and others.
At AFP's 2009 Defending the Dream summit, David Koch said he and his brother Charles provided the initial funding for AFP. In initial funding, David Koch was the top contributor to the founding of the AFP Foundation at $850,000. Several American companies also provided initial funding of the AFP Foundation, including $275,000 from State Farm Insurance and lesser amounts from 1-800 Contacts, medical products firm Johnson & Johnson, and carpet and flooring manufacturer Shaw Industries.
Later grants from the Koch family foundations include $1 million in 2008 to AFP from the David H. Koch Charitable Foundation and $3 million between 2005 and 2007 to the AFP Foundation from the Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation, controlled by Charles Koch. Other grants from Koch-related funding sources include $32.3 million in 2012 and $1.5 million in 2013 from Freedom Partners and $4.2 million through 2011 to the AFP Foundation from the Center to Protect Patient Rights.
Between 2003 and 2012, the AFP Foundation received $4.17 million from the John William Pope Foundation, chaired by AFP director Pope, the largest identifiable donor to the AFP Foundation. In 2011, the AFP Foundation received $3 million from the foundation of the family of billionaire Richard DeVos, the founder of Amway, making the DeVos family the second largest identifiable donor to the AFP Foundation. In 2010, AFP received half a million dollars from the Bradley Foundation. AFP received smaller grants in 2012 from tobacco company Reynolds American and in 2010 and 2012 from the American Petroleum Institute. The donor-advised fund Donors Trust granted $11 million to AFP between 2002 and 2010 and $7 million to the AFP Foundation in 2010.
Tea Party movement and 2010 midterm election
AFP helped transform the nascent Tea Party movement into a political force.
AFP supported the Tea Party movement by obtaining permits and supplying speakers for rallies. AFP helped organize and publicize a "Porkulus"-themed protest on the state capitol steps in Denver, Colorado on February 17, 2009, in conjunction with Obama signing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Within hours of CNBC on-air editor Rick Santelli's remarks on February 19, 2009, that criticized the Act and called for a "Chicago tea party," AFP registered and launched the website "TaxDayTeaParty.com," calling for protests against Obama. AFP had a lead role in organizing Taxpayer Tea Party rallies in Sacramento, Austin, and Madison in April 2009. AFP was one of the leading organizers of the September 2009 Taxpayer March on Washington, also known as the "9/12 Tea Party," according to The Guardian. On April 16, 2011, former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin was the keynote speaker at an AFP annual tax day tea party rally at the state capitol in Madison, Wisconsin.