MoveOn Civic Action, also known by the name of its website MoveOn.org, describes itself as “the largest independent, progressive, digitally-connected organizing group in the United States.”¹ MoveOn operates as a centralized forum for petitions written by its left-of-center members, advertises those petitions, coordinates issue advocacy and protests, and gathers donations from its members and from major donors like George Soros² which it uses to support left-of-center causes and candidates. ³

MoveOn partners with other progressive organizations, allowing the organizations to use its petition platform and increase their email list.⁴ Groups that have recently partnered with MoveOn to distribute petitions include #Not1More,⁵ which is aimed at ending the deportation of illegal immigrants, and labor union advocacy group Family Values at Work.⁶

Background

MoveOn was founded by left-wing activists wishing to “move on” from the Monica Lewinsky scandal and subsequent impeachment of President Bill Clinton on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. In 1998, Joan Blades and Wes Boyd, spouses and co-founders of the San Francisco Bay area software company Berkeley Systems, created a single-sentence online petition saying it was time to “move on” from the scandal to address the “pressing issues facing the nation.”⁷ As the petition circulated by email, the couple also launched MoveOn.org where people could sign the petition electronically.²

In one week, MoveOn registered 100,000 supporters² and MoveOn considers the people who signed the first petition to be its first members, whether they paid dues or not. From there, MoveOn expanded its operations, starting a PAC to take donations and support left-wing candidate. ²

MoveOn became the first left-of-center advocacy group to use the Internet to run phone banks as well as organizing activists to raise funds from small donors online,⁷ a grassroots-based activity that would later fuel the presidential campaign of anti-establishment socialist Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in 2016. ⁸ The organization credits itself with forcing the Democratic Party to oppose the Iraq war, helping Democrats retake the U.S. Congress in 2006, and helping to pass the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare. ⁷

In 2016, MoveOn supported the campaigns of U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT). ⁷ MoveOn endorsed Sen. Sanders in the Democratic primary for President in 2016 against his opponent and eventual victor of the primary, then-U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton⁹ This was only the second time in the group’s history that it endorsed a candidate in the presidential primary,⁹ the previous time endorsing then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) in 2008. ¹⁰

As of March 2025, MoveOn, along with Indivisible and Working Families Power, created a new online publication on the website Substack titled “How We Fight Back,” which it claims will, “…match the courage of everyday people in this country who are saying Enough…Enough of the greed and cruelty and corruption.” ¹¹ In addition, according to an article by Semafor, the publication will contain, “a digest of political analysis and direction for how readers and supporters can take action directly against Trump, Elon Musk, and Republicans.” ¹¹ The publication will also contain essays and videos published by Democratic members of Congress. ¹¹

Civic Action

MoveOn Civic Action is the lobbying and advocacy arm of MoveOn.org. It is home to MoveOn Petitions, where everyone from regular citizens to left-wing organizations to members of Congress can post public petitions. ¹² post public petitions.

Its petition efforts have included attempts to persuade U.S. Senate Republicans to vote against repealing and replacing Obamacare, to revoke security clearance for President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner, to have Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) veto legislation targeting sanctuary cities, and to hire a special prosecutor to investigate President Trump’s alleged connections to the Russian government. ¹³

Petitions

Supreme Court

In partnership with Demand Justice, MoveOn Civic Action has a petition campaign that collects signatures in support of expanding the number of seats in the Supreme Court to allow for the appointment of additional Democratic-aligned justices. It accuses Republicans of obtaining “stolen seats and unprecedented right-wing power grabs.” ¹⁴ The campaign started in 2022 to request then-President Joe Biden to pack the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold pro-abortion-access policies, left-of-center election integrity policies, and increased regulations on businesses. ¹⁴

Environmentalism

Following the first Trump administration’s 2017 withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, MoveOn began hosting and organizing petitions “demanding” that the United States recommit to the agreement. It reported that over 500,000 members supported the petition leading up to the U.S. reentering the agreement under the Biden administration in 2021. In March 2025, MoveOn resumed petitioning in support of the Agreement in response to President Donald Trump reelection and in anticipation of a potential second withdrawal. ¹⁵

Campaigns

MoveOn Civic Action hosts its own campaigns and promotes campaigns and petitions of its members in support of the “progressive community.” Its “Campaign Guide” webpage reports that, “since the 2016 election, thousands of petitions have been launched by individual MoveOn members and partner organizations in opposition to the Trump administration’s dangerous agenda.” ¹⁶

After the 2022 midterm elections, MoveOn took credit for Democrats winning the U.S. Senate majority and for Democratic wins in state elections, describing its members as having “defeated MAGA.” It reported that it campaigned in support of Democrats by phone-banking and vote-tripling campaigns, in which it encouraged each member who voted to recruit three people they knew to vote. MoveOn also reports partnering with NextGen and the Working Families Party to campaign in support of Democratic candidates, specifically naming U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT). ¹⁷

Following President Donald Trump’s January 2025 inauguration, MoveOn Civic Action began organizing protests alongside Indivisible and the Working Families Party to oppose Elon Musk’s involvement in advising the second Trump administration. It called on its members to go to local U.S. Congressional offices and Tesla dealerships and protest Musk’s role in leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). ^{18 19}

On March 25, 2025, MoveOn sent an email to members calling for an increase in protests at Tesla dealerships and elsewhere in response to the Trump administration cutting funding to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Department of Education. ²⁰

On March 30, 2025, former Wall Street Journal journalist Asra Nomani posted a thread on her X (formerly Twitter) profile which listed MoveOn Civic Action among several nonprofit organizations and activist groups that were allegedly involved with planning and taking part in #TeslaTakedown, a series of nationwide protests targeting car company Tesla over its CEO Elon Musk’s ties to the Second Trump Administration. ²¹

Funding

MoveOn receives and has received large donations, including $2.5 million from George Soros in 2003.² Other large donations at that time include $2.5 million from the late Progressive Insurance chairman Peter B. Lewis, nearly $1 million from Stephen Bing of Shangri-La Entertainment, $100,000 from Lewis Cullman, heir to the Benson & Hedges tobacco fortune, and $101,000 from George Soros’s son Jonathan Soros.²

From 2017 through 2024, MoveOn Civic Action’s top donors include the Open Society Policy Center, which donated $2.35 million to MoveOn; Ploughshares Fund, which donated $1.08 million; Open Society Action Fund, which donated $1.0 million; and the National Domestic Workers Alliance, which donated a total of $934,000. It also received $645,000 from the Tides Foundation, $560,000 from the Sixteen Thirty Fund, $556,591 from Tides Advocacy, $500,000 from Clear Choice Action, and $499,660 from Cooperative Impact Lab. ²²

People

MoveOn has no central headquarters, and many employees work remotely from locations around the United States.²³ LinkedIn indicates that MoveOn has anywhere from 11 to 50 employees.²⁴

Rahna Epting is the executive director of MoveOn and MoveOn Political Action. She previously worked at the Service Employees International Union as a political programs director, and for the Oregon Bus Project’s PolitiCorps program. ²⁵

Anna Galland is the board chair of MoveOn Civic Action, where she helped launch SignOn.org, which eventually became MoveOn Petitions, the organization’s online petition tool.^{26 27} Before organizing at MoveOn, Anna Galland worked for the Oregon Bus Project, a progressive organizing group in Oregon.²⁸

Financials

In 2023, MoveOn Civic Action reported $6.0 million in total revenue and $6.7 million in total expenses, including $2.8 million in salaries and compensation for employees. ²⁹

1. “What is MoveOn.org?” MoveOn. Accessed May 12, 2017. https://front.moveon.org/about/#.WRW5uIkrK9Z.
2. “MoveOn (MO).” Discover the Networks. Accessed May 12, 2017 http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/printgroupProfile.asp?grpid=6201.
3. “What is MoveOn.org?” MoveOn. Accessed May 12, 2017. https://front.moveon.org/about/#.WRXt44krK9Y.
4. “Progressive Partner Organizations.” MoveOn. Accessed May 12, 2017. http://petitions.moveon.org/organizations.html.
5. “Ice is Detaning a Georgia Civil Rights Leader. Sign to Release Him.” MoveOn Petitions. Accessed May 12, 2017. http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/ice-is-detaining-a-georgia?source=homepage.
6. “Sick at Work, Sending Sick Child to School? We Paid Sick Days.” MoveOn Petitions. Accessed May 12, 2017. http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/sick-at-work-sending?source=homepage.
7. “A Short History.” MoveOn. Accessed May 12, 2017. https://front.moveon.org/a-short-history/#.WRW6qYkrK9Y.
8. Foran, Clare. “Bernie Sanders’s Big Money.” The Atlantic. March 1, 2016. Accessed May 15, 2017. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/03/bernie-sanders-fundraising/471648/.
9. Steward, Brian. “MoveOn Members Vote Overwhelmingly to Endorse Bernie Sanders in Democratic Primary. MoveOn. January 12, 2016. Accessed May 12, 2017. https://front.moveon.org/sanders-endorsement-release/#.WRX6sIkrK9Y.
10. Zeleny, Jeff. “MoveOn Endorses Obama.” The New York Times. February 1, 2008. Accessed May 12, 2017. https://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/01/moveon-endorses-obama/.
11. Tani, Max. “Major progressive groups launch anti-Trump Substack.” Semafor, March 23, 2025. https://www.semafor.com/article/03/23/2025/major-progressive-groups-launch-anti-trump-substack
12. Naddler, Jerry. “Enough is enough. Investigate the Trump administration now.” MoveOn Petitions. Accessed May 12, 2017. http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/enough-is-enough-create?source=homepage.
13. “MoveOn Petitions.” MoveOn Petitions. Accessed May 12, 2017. https://petitions.moveon.org/.
14. “Expand and Rebalance the Supreme Court!” MoveOn. Accessed April 1, 2025. https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/expand-the-supreme-court-save-abortion-rights.
15. MoveOn. “125,000 Moveon Members Sign to Uphold the Paris Agreement.” MoveOn, March 5, 2025. https://front.moveon.org/moveon-members-sign-to-uphold-paris-agreement/.
16. “Campaign Guide.” MoveOn, February 21, 2025. https://front.moveon.org/petitions__campaign_tips/.
17. “MoveOn’s Electoral Work.” MoveOn, February 24, 2025. https://front.moveon.org/moveons-electoral-work/.
18. Peoples, Steve. “The Anti-Musk Protest Movement Is Expected to Ramp up with Congress on Recess.” AP News, February 17, 2025. https://apnews.com/article/democrats-musk-trump-protests-congress-ccb64f2889d31aad8c25d37686f62d7a.
19. “Moveon Announces ‘Congress Works for Us, Not Musk’ Recess Actions to Hold Lawmakers Accountable.” MoveOn, February 20, 2025. https://front.moveon.org/moveon-announces-congress-works-for-us-not-musk-recess-actions-to-hold-lawmakers-accountable/.
20. MoveOn Civic Action. What We Can No Longer Depend On, March 25, 2025.
21. Nomani, Asra (@AsraNomani). “Hello @ElonMusk and Friends, You asked who is funding and organizing the #TeslaTakedown protests. I’ve got answers for you, after going onto the streets of northern Virginia for the local protests here, seeing familiar faces from the Virginia Democratic political machine and then following the money — and the data.” X, March 30, 2025. https://x.com/AsraNomani/status/1906281197430329459
22. “MoveOn.Org Civic Action and Moveon.Org Political Action’s Gift Acceptance Policy.” MoveOn, March 20, 2025. https://front.moveon.org/moveon-org-policy/.
23. “MoveOn Careers.” MoveOn. Accessed May 12, 2017. https://front.moveon.org/careers/#.WRX2bYkrK9Y.
24. “MoveOn.Org.” LinkedIn. Accessed May 12, 2017. https://www.linkedin.com/company-beta/36343/.
25. “Rahna Epting.” MoveOn. Accessed April 1, 2025. https://front.moveon.org/rahnaepting/.
26. “Anna Galland: Executive Director, MoveOn.org.” MoveOn. Accessed May 12, 2017. https://front.moveon.org/anna-galland-executive-director-moveon-org/#.WRXuPYkrK9Y
27. “Anna Galland.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 1, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/annagalland/.
28. “Welcome Nikki Fisher to the Bus Project July 14^th.” The Bus Project. July 8, 2015. Accessed May 12, 2017. http://busproject.org/welcome-nikki-fisher-to-the-bus-project-july-14th/.
29. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). MoveOnorg Civic Action. 2023. Part I, Lines 12-18.