America First Legal Foundation is a right-of-center nonprofit organization formed by former senior Trump White House advisor Stephen Miller and counselor to the Attorney General Gene Hamilton in February 2021. It aims to use litigation to oppose left-of-center policies enacted by the Biden administration. ¹

The board is made up of former Trump administration officials including White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and former Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker. ²

Background

The America First Legal Foundation was launched by Stephen Miller, a White House senior advisor to President Donald Trump. Trump endorsed the organization upon its launch in April 2021. ³

The America First Legal Foundation has the goal of challenging Biden administration policies in court. ⁴ The foundation announced plans to work with state attorneys general to litigate cases against the Biden administration’s policies. ⁵

Legal Advocacy

The America First Legal Foundation joined the state of Texas in suing the Biden administration over its border enforcement policies and is paying the legal cost for the case. ⁶ The lawsuit alleges the Biden administration’s release of unvaccinated illegal immigrants is exposing more Texans to COVID-19. ⁷

The group issued a seven-page complaint condemning a proposed rule from the U.S. Department of Education to provide incentives to schools to teach critical race theory, which the foundation called “thoroughly discredited” and “odious.” ⁸

Leadership

Stephen Miller, the founder and president of the America First Legal Foundation, was a senior adviser to President Donald Trump and his director of White House speechwriting. ^{9 10}

Gene Hamilton, a board member, was the counselor to the Attorneys General at the Justice Department from 2017 through 2021. He was also formerly a senior counselor to the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. ^{11 12}

Mark Meadows, a board member, was Trump’s White House Chief of Staff. He was previously a congressman from North Carolina. ¹³

Matthew Whitaker, a board member, was the Acting U.S. Attorney General under Trump. He previously served as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa. ¹⁴

Russ Vought, a board member, was Trump’s director of the Office of Management and Budget. ¹⁵

Ed Corrigan is a board member and the CEO and president of the Conservative Partnership Institute. ¹⁶

Wesley Denton is a board member, and the chief operating officer of the Conservative Partnership Institute. ¹⁷

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