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Non-profit

Constitutional Accountability Center (CAC)

Website:

www.theusconstitution.org
Location:

WASHINGTON, DC
Tax ID:

52-2063854
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Budget (2022):

Revenue: $2,221,846
Expenses: $3,071,784
Assets: $8,320,525
Type:

Legal advocacy group
Formation:

2008
President:

Elizabeth B. Wydra
Budget (2023):

Revenue: $4,497,232

Expenses: $2,966,262

Total Assets: $9,659,996 17

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The Constitutional Accountability Center (CAC) is a legal policy think tank that promotes left-of-center interpretations of the U.S. Constitution through policy analysis and amicus briefs. 1 CAC has filed a number of lawsuits against former President Donald Trump, including cases regarding his tax returns and accusations of profiting from foreign governments. 2 3

The CAC has also advocated Trump’s criminal prosecution following the 2020 election and has opposed his executive order that seeks to end birthright citizenship for children of noncitizens. 4 5

The CAC was listed as one of several organizations allegedly participating and planning #TeslaTakedown, a series of national protests against Tesla over its CEO Elon Musk and his ties to the second Trump administration. The group was listed as a member of the Not Above the Law Coalition which was also alleged to sponsor and organize the protests. 6 7

The CAC has received funding from left-of-center organizations and foundations including George Soros’s Foundation to Promote Open Society (FPOS). 8

Background

The Constitutional Accountability Center (CAC) was founded in 2008 by Doug Kendall, an activist litigator also known for founding and directing the Community Rights Council. He passed away in September 2015. 1 9

The CAC claims to both defend an originalist approach to the U.S. Constitution and a left-wing interpretation of it by suggesting that the “Constitution’s text and history command progressive results.” In other words, CAC claims that the Constitution allows for left-of-center development of laws and that originalist-conservative interpreters misunderstand its flexible nature. 10 This school of thought has been termed “New Textualism,” and Kendall has been cited as the major leader of turning the academic concept into legal practice. 11

Activities

Constitutional Interpretation

The Constitutional Accountability Center (CAC) claims to track legal issues on its website which adheres its interpretation of the U.S Constitution including left-of-center views on immigration, voting, environmentalism, and judicial reform. 12 13 14 15

Legal Activism

The Constitutional Accountability Center (CAC) oversees several initiatives and campaigns on left-of-center litigation. As of 2022, CAC has filed 200 amicus briefs, including more than 100 in United States Supreme Court cases. It counts among its legal practitioners former clerks for five U.S. appellate judges and a former U.S. Supreme Court clerk. 1

In 2021, director of CAC’s Human Rights, Civil Rights, and Citizenship program David H. Gans wrote an article for The Atlantic arguing that the Constitution guarantees the right to abortion, specifically citing the Fourteenth Amendment. 16

The CAC has filed a number of lawsuits against former President Donald Trump, including lawsuits seeking disclosure of his tax returns and accusations that he profited from foreign governments. 2 3

2025 #TeslaTakedown Protests

In March 2025, former Wall Street Journal journalist Asra Nomani posted on her X (formerly Twitter) account a list of organizations, foundations, and political groups allegedly affiliated with #TeslaTakedown, of which the Constitutional Accountability Center (CAC) was listed. #TeslaTakedown was a series of national protests in which activists protested in front of Tesla dealerships over its CEO Elon Musk and his ties to the second Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Not Above the Law coalition was a listed group involved with the protests, of which CAC was listed as a coalition member. CAC has been a member of the Not Above the Law Coalition since June 2023. In July 2024, CAC’s vice president, Dave Sievers, signed onto a letter from the Not Above the Law Coalition opposing the dismissal of charges against then-former President Donald Trump for mishandling classified documents. 6 7

Finances

In 2023, the Constitutional Accountability Center (CAC) reported $4,497,232 in total revenue, $2,966,262 in total expenses, and $9,659,996 in total assets at the close of that year. 17

Funding

The Constitutional Accountability Center (CAC) has received funding and grants from several left-of-center organizations and foundations including roughly $5.8 million between 2016 and 2023 from billionaire philanthropist George Soros’s Foundation to Promote Open Society (FPOS). From 2016 through 2018, FPOS issued annual $800,000 grants to CAC, while in 2019, FPOS made a $1.4 million grant to CAC followed by $1.25 million in 2021 and $750,000 in 2023. 8

Another large donor to the Constitutional Accountability Center is the Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, a donor-advised fund (DAF) provider; as such, Fidelity should not be considered the actual donor, since the DAF provider’s funds originate with another, unknown donor (or set of donors) which is responsible for directing Fidelity to pass that donor’s grants along to the Constitutional Accountability Center. 18 From 2017 through 2023, the Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund has issued over $7.8 million in grants to the CAC. This includes $1.8 million in 2017, nearly $1.2 million in 2018, over $1 million in 2019 and 2020, $904,000 in 2021, $903,500 in 2022, and over $1 million in 2023. 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Since 2006, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation has issued $500,000 in grants to the CAC including $100,000 in 2006 and $100,000 in 2008 for CAC’s “Global Warming and the Courts” project, and $300,000 in 2014 for general operations. 26

Leadership

As of 2022, Elizabeth B. Wydra is board president of Constitutional Accountability Center (CAC). From 2008 to 2016, Wydra was CAC’s chief counsel, filing more than 200 briefs for the organization and its clients, including governmental organizations, League of Women Voters (LWV), AARP, and Congressional members (parties to more than 50 briefs, including Blumenthal v. Trump, which accused Trump of violating the Foreign Emoluments Clause). Before joining CAC, Wydra was an attorney at the white-shoe firm of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan in San Francisco. She has also previously worked at Georgetown University Law Center, as a law clerk for a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and as an attorney at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. Wydra has appeared as a legal expert for NBC, ABC, PBS, CNN, C-SPAN, Fox News, BBC, and NPR, among other outlets. She received her law degree from Yale Law School and her bachelor’s from Claremont McKenna College. 27

Other board members included chairman Andrew J. Pincus, a partner at D.C.-based law firm Mayer Brown LLP; Harry Litman, legal affairs columnist for Los Angeles Times; Amtrak general counsel Eleanor D. “Eldie” Acheson; Peter C. Erichsen, partner of Ropes & Gray; Sean Mahoney, vice president and director of the Maine Advocacy Center of the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF); Vivek H. Maru, founder and CEO of the legal advocacy group Namati; associate general counsel of the U.S. and Canada for Uber Technologies Molly Moran; and Elliot Williams, principal of the Raben Group’s Government Affairs Practice Group. 28

References

  1. “About CAC.” Constitutional Accountability Center. Accessed August 27, 2022. https://www.theusconstitution.org/about-cac/.
  2. Paul, Deanna. “A ‘whackadoodle’ court ruling about Trump’s tax records could ignite a ‘constitutional crisis.’” Washington Post. October 15, 2019. Accessed August 27, 2022. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/10/15/whackadoodle-court-ruling-about-trumps-tax-records-could-ignite-constitutional-crisis/.
  3. Herb, Jeremy and Polantz, Katelyn. “Congressional Democrats subpoena Trump organization.” CNN. July 8, 2019. Accessed August 27, 2022. https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/08/politics/trump-organization-subpoena/index.html.
  4. “Trump v. United States.” Constitutional Accountability Center. Accessed April 14, 2025. https://www.theusconstitution.org/litigation/trump-v-united-states/
  5. “Washington v. Trump.” Constitutional Accountability Center. Accessed April 14, 2025.  https://www.theusconstitution.org/litigation/state-of-washington-v-trump/
  6. “@AsraNomani X Post.” X. March 30, 2025. Accessed April 14, 2025. https://x.com/AsraNomani/status/1906281197430329459
  7. “Not Above the Law Coalition On Judge Cannon Inappropriately Dismissing Classified Documents Case Against Trump.” Constitutional Accountability Center. July 15, 2024. Accessed April 14, 2025. https://www.theusconstitution.org/news/not-above-the-law-coalition-on-judge-cannon-inappropriately-dismissing-classified-documents-case-against-trump/
  8. “Awarded Grants – Constitutional Accountability Center.” Open Society Foundations. Accessed April 14, 2025. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/grants/past?filter_keyword=Constitutional+Accountability+Center
  9. “Doug Kendall (1964-2015).” Constitutional Accountability Center. Accessed August 27, 2022. https://www.theusconstitution.org/staff/doug-kendall-1964-2015/.
  10. “Think Tank.” Constitutional Accountability Center. Accessed August 27, 2022. https://www.theusconstitution.org/think_tank/.
  11. Rosen, Jeffrey. “In Defense of the Constitution: The Battle for Obamacare.” The New Republic. June 8, 2012. Accessed August 27, 2022. https://newrepublic.com/article/103943/constitution-avenue-supreme-court.
  12. “Immigration & Citizenship.” Constitutional Accountability Center. Accessed April 14, 2025. https://www.theusconstitution.org/issues/immigration-citizenship/
  13. “Voting Rights & Democracy.” Constitutional Accountability Center. Accessed April 14, 2025. https://www.theusconstitution.org/issues/voting-rights-democracy/
  14. “Environmental Protection.” Constitutional Accountability Center. Accessed April 14, 2025. https://www.theusconstitution.org/issues/environmental-protection/
  15. “Access to Justice.” Constitutional Accountability Center. Accessed April 14, 2025. https://www.theusconstitution.org/issues/access-to-justice/
  16. Gans, David H. “No, Really, the Right to an Abortion Is Supported by the Text and History of the Constitution.” The Atlantic. November 4, 2021. Accessed August 27, 2022. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/11/roe-was-originalist-reading-constitution/620600/.
  17. “Constitutional Accountability Center – 2023 Federal Form 990.” ProPublica. Accessed April 14, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/522063854/202442229349301559/full
  18. Information provided by FoundationSearch. Search conducted October 13, 2020. www.FoundationSearch.org
  19. “Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund – 2017 Federal Form 990, Schedule I.” ProPublica. Accessed April 14, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/110303001/201801359349303865/IRS990ScheduleI
  20. “Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund – 2018 Federal Form 990, Schedule I.” ProPublica. Accessed April 14, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/110303001/201931359349301478/IRS990ScheduleI
  21. “Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund – 2019 Federal Form 990, Schedule I.” ProPublica. Accessed April 14, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/110303001/202041789349301474/IRS990ScheduleI
  22. “Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund – 2020 Federal Form 990, Schedule I.” ProPublica. Accessed April 14, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/110303001/202121359349300427/IRS990ScheduleI
  23. “Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund – 2021 Federal Form 990, Schedule I.” ProPublica. Accessed April 14, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/110303001/202221339349302787/IRS990ScheduleI
  24. “Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund – 2022 Federal Form 990, Schedule I.” ProPublica. Accessed April 14, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/110303001/202321309349304807/IRS990ScheduleI
  25. “Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund – 2023 Federal Form 990, Schedule I.” ProPublica. Accessed April 14, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/110303001/202441369349301334/IRS990ScheduleI
  26. “Grants – Constitutional Accountability Center.” William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Accessed April 14, 2025. https://hewlett.org/grants/?_grant_search=%22Constitutional%20Accountability%20Center%22
  27. “Elizabeth B. Wydra – President.” Constitutional Accountability Center. Accessed August 27, 2022. https://www.theusconstitution.org/staff/elizabeth-b-wydra/.
  28. “Board of Directors.” Constitutional Accountability Center. Accessed August 27, 2022. https://www.theusconstitution.org/about-cac/#board-of-directors.
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: December - November
  • Tax Exemption Received: February 1, 1998

    • Available Filings

    Period Form Type Total revenue Total functional expenses Total assets (EOY) Total liabilities (EOY) Unrelated business income? Total contributions Program service revenue Investment income Comp. of current officers, directors, etc. Form 990
    2022 Dec Form 990 $2,221,846 $3,071,784 $8,320,525 $1,370,860 N $2,164,429 $0 $53,846 $501,587 PDF
    2021 Dec Form 990 $4,253,082 $2,939,954 $8,058,148 $258,545 N $4,220,719 $0 $29,547 $458,921
    2020 Dec Form 990 $2,939,257 $2,920,313 $6,780,165 $293,690 N $2,824,385 $0 $99,377 $471,424 PDF
    2019 Dec Form 990 $3,801,512 $2,651,052 $6,814,846 $347,315 N $3,716,478 $0 $72,919 $420,177 PDF
    2018 Dec Form 990 $4,298,375 $2,552,802 $5,745,740 $428,669 N $4,255,418 $0 $35,568 $398,544 PDF
    2017 Dec Form 990 $4,505,889 $3,469,685 $3,769,408 $197,910 N $4,485,609 $0 $20,280 $419,933 PDF
    2016 Dec Form 990 $2,807,365 $2,305,073 $2,640,691 $105,397 N $2,793,659 $0 $13,706 $392,056 PDF
    2015 Dec Form 990 $3,060,866 $2,337,117 $2,139,902 $106,900 N $3,051,124 $0 $9,742 $359,606 PDF
    2014 Dec Form 990 $2,720,249 $2,255,068 $1,406,532 $97,278 N $2,716,065 $0 $4,184 $192,400
    2013 Dec Form 990 $1,575,616 $1,882,071 $919,997 $75,924 N $1,572,300 $0 $3,316 $182,000 PDF
    2012 Dec Form 990 $1,996,396 $1,593,199 $1,227,677 $77,149 N $1,992,737 $0 $2,041 $172,640 PDF
    2011 Dec Form 990 $1,495,083 $1,241,537 $788,603 $41,272 N $1,492,402 $0 $2,181 $161,200 PDF

    Additional Filings (PDFs)

    Constitutional Accountability Center (CAC)

    1200 18TH ST NW STE 501
    WASHINGTON, DC 20036-2513