Center for American Progress

Orientation: progressive, created in 2003 by John Podesta as a Democratic answer to Heritage and AEI. Funding: individual donors, foundations, labour unions and corporations; critics have faulted it for not disclosing all its donors. CAP sits closer to Democratic administrations than most think tanks: Neera Tanden returned as its president in 2025 after serving as Joe Biden's domestic policy adviser. Its Medicare Extra plan offered a choice between public and private coverage rather than single payer, and it published some of the most detailed critiques of Project 2025. A sister organisation, the CAP Action Fund, can lobby more freely, so note which of the two put out a piece.