The Oversight Project is a right-of-center lobbying and electoral advocacy organization incubated at the Heritage Foundation in 2022 the goal of promoting government transparency by investigating and exposing instances of what it claims are fraud, corruption, and abuse within the U.S. government. The Oversight Project’s areas of focus include border security, election integrity, and potential influence from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). ^{1 2}

Activities

The Oversight Project claims it advocates for investigating instances of what it considers fraud, corruption and potential abuse within the U.S. government, which it claims it can do through using the Freedom of Information to release said information. ¹

Formed in 2022 as a project of the Heritage Foundation, the organization had previously secured the release of audio from then-President Joe Biden’s interview with Justice Department Special Counsel Robert Hur on the usage of “autopen” and alleging other election-related issues prior to the 2024 presidential election. ²

Other areas of focus include research into border security, election integrity, and identifying influence from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) through the release of statistic, investigative reporting, and other published materials. ¹

Funding

The Oversight Project is a former project of the Heritage Foundation, a right-of-center think tank. In 2023, the Heritage Foundation received more than $100 million in revenue. ³ As of April 2025, the Oversight Project was pending approval from the IRS to become a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization. Tax filings confirm that DonorsTrust made a $50,000 contribution to the Heritage Foundation in 2022 earmarked for the Oversight Project. ⁴

People

Jason Chaffetz is a visiting fellow of the Oversight Project. Chaffetz is a former U.S. Representative; he served as the chair of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and on the Committee on Judiciary during his tenure in office. ⁵

Mike Howell is the president of the Oversight Project and a member of the advisory board of the National Immigration Center for Enforcement. Howell formerly worked as a senior advisor at the Heritage Foundation, oversight counsel at the Department of Homeland Security, and senior counsel at the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. ⁶

1. “Home.” The Oversight Project. Accessed April 6, 2025. https://www.heritage.org/oversight.
2. “Heritage Foundation Announces New Era for The Oversight Project.” The Heritage Foundation. Accessed April 6, 2025. https://www.heritage.org/press/heritage-foundation-announces-new-era-the-oversight-project.
3. The Heritage Foundation, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2023, Part I, Line 12.
4.  DonorsTrust, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2022, Schedule I, Part II.
5. “Jason Chaffetz.” Ballotpedia. Accessed April 7, 2025. https://ballotpedia.org/Jason_Chaffetz.
6. “Mike Howell.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 6, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikehowelllaw/.