SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Climate activist and co-founder of 350.org Bill McKibben. (Photo: Mat McDermott/cc/flickr)
How America Rising Ties the GOP to the Stalkers Harassing Bill McKibben and Tom Steyer
For the past few months, when they dare venture out to the supermarket, to church, or to a climate rally, Bill McKibben, Tom Steyer, and other climate activists are being stalked by a team of GOP-trained camera operators.
Aug 07, 2016
For the past few months, when they dare venture out to the supermarket, to church, or to a climate rally, Bill McKibben, Tom Steyer, and other climate activists are being stalked by a team of GOP-trained camera operators. The so-called "trackers" with the cameras are working for a group called America Rising Squared (aka America Rising Advanced Research or AR2), and publishing the occasional "embarrassing" display of alleged hypocrisy on a website called CoreNews.org.
DeSmog first covered this new "creepy" campaign back in May, and since then, the harrassment has only gotten worse, as Bill McKibben writes in Sunday's New York Times. In his op-ed, "My Right Wing Stalkers" (the web headline is: "Embarrassing Photos of Me, Thanks to My Right-Wing Stalkers"), McKibben describes what it's like to live under surveillance, and the psychological toll that it takes on him and his family. (One particularly infuriating detail: McKibben's daughter believes that she, too, is being filmed in public.)
McKibben writes:
To be watched so much is a kind of never-ending nightmare. And sometimes it's just infuriating. I skipped the funeral this summer of Patrick Sorrento, an important mentor to me at my college newspaper, because I didn't want my minder to follow me and cause a distracting spectacle. When my daughter reports someone taking pictures of her at the airport, it drives me nuts. I have no idea if it's actually this outfit; common decency would suggest otherwise, but that seems an increasingly rare commodity.
Almost as startling as the tactics of the campaign is how closely it is tied to the mainstream Republican establishment. Core News (and by extension, America Rising Squared) might have the look and feel of a Right Wing lunatic fringe campaign funded by the darkest of oil and gas money. But in actuality it's a foundational block of a prominent GOP opposition research firm, the heads of which have collectively spent decades working for big name Republicans like Mitt Romney, Marco Rubio, John McCain, and even the National Republican Congressional Commitee and the Republican National Committee itself.
Check out this network map (built on LittleSis) to see for yourself how Core News is directly tied to the Republican establishment's leading opposition researchers. And for good measure, here is DeSmog's profile of the entire America Rising family tree, with branches including America Rising LLC, America Rising PAC, America Rising Squared, Definers Public Affairs, and Core News.
As you can see, the founders of America Rising are both longtime GOP establishment insiders. Matt Rhoades has worked on presidential campaigns going back to Bush-Cheney in 2004, and was Mitt Romney's campaign director for his failed 2012 bid. Joe Pounder was Research Director for the Republican National Committee at the time, and it was out of the ashes of that campaign that the idea of America Rising was born.
Brian Rogers, the Executive Director of America Rising Squared, was a longtime staffer with Senator John McCain and--oddly enough--briefly served as research director for Al Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection.
Of the "trackers" campaign and Core News, Rogers has said his group will "hold Steyer and the Environmentalist Left accountable for their epic hypocrisy and extreme positions which threaten America's future prosperity." Though there's no indication yet that Rogers' trackers will be following his old boss, former Vice President Gore, around with cameras.
Who is paying America Rising Squared to stalk McKibben, Steyer, and others?
It's hard to say, as donations to America Rising Squared needn't be declared, as the entity is incorporated as a nonprofit 501(c)4. In fact, the various entities under the America Rising umbrella give the enterprise a flexible structure that can serve different purposes. The PAC can purchase research from the LLC and can sell or disseminate it to other organizations. The nonprofit AR2 doesn't have to declare its donors. America Rising LLC is a business that can sell its services with no disclosures necessary.
According to OpenSecrets.org, the Republican National Committee spent at least $183,900 on America Rising in the 2016 election cycle, with an additional $45,000 from the National Republican Congressional Committee.All told, America Rising had a budget of $8 million for the 2014 elections and is seeking to nearly double this.
Again, for a whole lot more background on America Rising, including a list of known leadership and staff and reported funding, check out DeSmog's profile of the entire America Rising enterprise.
As Bill McKibben sums up in his op-ed, these stalkers aren't fooling anyone, and the truth is that the entrenched special interests who hired them are the ones running scared:
Merely having someone with a camera follow you somehow makes you feel as if you're doing something wrong. My house is covered in solar panels, and I plug my car into a socket those panels power. But environmentalists also live in the world we're trying to change: We take airplanes and rent buses for rallies; we make a living, shop for groceries. None of this should demand an apology. Changing the system, not perfecting our own lives, is the point. "Hypocrisy" is the price of admission in this battle.
And despite what the industry and its advocates insist, that does not make us all equally responsible for the climate crisis.
We're fighting for policy changes that will make it possible for us to have better choices: utilities that offer us renewable options, electric trains that make short-haul flights obsolete, public transit. Exxon and its ilk have been fighting for decades to keep these choices out of our reach, and then claim that we are voting with our dollars every time we sit in traffic or heat our homes with fossil fuels supplied by a utility that has a monopoly. They can play gotcha as much as they want, but all it proves is how badly we need better options. And we are still going to fight like heck to make sure options are available to everyone.
...
The fossil-fuel industry may threaten us as a planet, as a nation, and as individuals, but when we rise up together we've got a fighting chance against the powers that be.
And perhaps that realization is just a little bit scary for them.
An Unconstitutional Rampage
Trump and Musk are on an unconstitutional rampage, aiming for virtually every corner of the federal government. These two right-wing billionaires are targeting nurses, scientists, teachers, daycare providers, judges, veterans, air traffic controllers, and nuclear safety inspectors. No one is safe. The food stamps program, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are next. It’s an unprecedented disaster and a five-alarm fire, but there will be a reckoning. The people did not vote for this. The American people do not want this dystopian hellscape that hides behind claims of “efficiency.” Still, in reality, it is all a giveaway to corporate interests and the libertarian dreams of far-right oligarchs like Musk. Common Dreams is playing a vital role by reporting day and night on this orgy of corruption and greed, as well as what everyday people can do to organize and fight back. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Ben Jervey, Desmogblog
Ben Jervey has been covering and working in the climate, energy, and environmental fields for a decade. He is regular contributor to DeSmogBlog. He was the original Environment Editor for GOOD Magazine, and wrote a longstanding weekly column titled "The New Ideal: Building the clean energy economy of the 21st Century and avoiding the worst fates of climate change." He also contributes to National Geographic News, Grist, OnEarth Magazine, and many other online and print publications. His book-"The Big Green Apple: Your Guide to Eco-Friendly Living in New York City"-has been called the "bible of green living for NYC."
For the past few months, when they dare venture out to the supermarket, to church, or to a climate rally, Bill McKibben, Tom Steyer, and other climate activists are being stalked by a team of GOP-trained camera operators. The so-called "trackers" with the cameras are working for a group called America Rising Squared (aka America Rising Advanced Research or AR2), and publishing the occasional "embarrassing" display of alleged hypocrisy on a website called CoreNews.org.
DeSmog first covered this new "creepy" campaign back in May, and since then, the harrassment has only gotten worse, as Bill McKibben writes in Sunday's New York Times. In his op-ed, "My Right Wing Stalkers" (the web headline is: "Embarrassing Photos of Me, Thanks to My Right-Wing Stalkers"), McKibben describes what it's like to live under surveillance, and the psychological toll that it takes on him and his family. (One particularly infuriating detail: McKibben's daughter believes that she, too, is being filmed in public.)
McKibben writes:
To be watched so much is a kind of never-ending nightmare. And sometimes it's just infuriating. I skipped the funeral this summer of Patrick Sorrento, an important mentor to me at my college newspaper, because I didn't want my minder to follow me and cause a distracting spectacle. When my daughter reports someone taking pictures of her at the airport, it drives me nuts. I have no idea if it's actually this outfit; common decency would suggest otherwise, but that seems an increasingly rare commodity.
Almost as startling as the tactics of the campaign is how closely it is tied to the mainstream Republican establishment. Core News (and by extension, America Rising Squared) might have the look and feel of a Right Wing lunatic fringe campaign funded by the darkest of oil and gas money. But in actuality it's a foundational block of a prominent GOP opposition research firm, the heads of which have collectively spent decades working for big name Republicans like Mitt Romney, Marco Rubio, John McCain, and even the National Republican Congressional Commitee and the Republican National Committee itself.
Check out this network map (built on LittleSis) to see for yourself how Core News is directly tied to the Republican establishment's leading opposition researchers. And for good measure, here is DeSmog's profile of the entire America Rising family tree, with branches including America Rising LLC, America Rising PAC, America Rising Squared, Definers Public Affairs, and Core News.
As you can see, the founders of America Rising are both longtime GOP establishment insiders. Matt Rhoades has worked on presidential campaigns going back to Bush-Cheney in 2004, and was Mitt Romney's campaign director for his failed 2012 bid. Joe Pounder was Research Director for the Republican National Committee at the time, and it was out of the ashes of that campaign that the idea of America Rising was born.
Brian Rogers, the Executive Director of America Rising Squared, was a longtime staffer with Senator John McCain and--oddly enough--briefly served as research director for Al Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection.
Of the "trackers" campaign and Core News, Rogers has said his group will "hold Steyer and the Environmentalist Left accountable for their epic hypocrisy and extreme positions which threaten America's future prosperity." Though there's no indication yet that Rogers' trackers will be following his old boss, former Vice President Gore, around with cameras.
Who is paying America Rising Squared to stalk McKibben, Steyer, and others?
It's hard to say, as donations to America Rising Squared needn't be declared, as the entity is incorporated as a nonprofit 501(c)4. In fact, the various entities under the America Rising umbrella give the enterprise a flexible structure that can serve different purposes. The PAC can purchase research from the LLC and can sell or disseminate it to other organizations. The nonprofit AR2 doesn't have to declare its donors. America Rising LLC is a business that can sell its services with no disclosures necessary.
According to OpenSecrets.org, the Republican National Committee spent at least $183,900 on America Rising in the 2016 election cycle, with an additional $45,000 from the National Republican Congressional Committee.All told, America Rising had a budget of $8 million for the 2014 elections and is seeking to nearly double this.
Again, for a whole lot more background on America Rising, including a list of known leadership and staff and reported funding, check out DeSmog's profile of the entire America Rising enterprise.
As Bill McKibben sums up in his op-ed, these stalkers aren't fooling anyone, and the truth is that the entrenched special interests who hired them are the ones running scared:
Merely having someone with a camera follow you somehow makes you feel as if you're doing something wrong. My house is covered in solar panels, and I plug my car into a socket those panels power. But environmentalists also live in the world we're trying to change: We take airplanes and rent buses for rallies; we make a living, shop for groceries. None of this should demand an apology. Changing the system, not perfecting our own lives, is the point. "Hypocrisy" is the price of admission in this battle.
And despite what the industry and its advocates insist, that does not make us all equally responsible for the climate crisis.
We're fighting for policy changes that will make it possible for us to have better choices: utilities that offer us renewable options, electric trains that make short-haul flights obsolete, public transit. Exxon and its ilk have been fighting for decades to keep these choices out of our reach, and then claim that we are voting with our dollars every time we sit in traffic or heat our homes with fossil fuels supplied by a utility that has a monopoly. They can play gotcha as much as they want, but all it proves is how badly we need better options. And we are still going to fight like heck to make sure options are available to everyone.
...
The fossil-fuel industry may threaten us as a planet, as a nation, and as individuals, but when we rise up together we've got a fighting chance against the powers that be.
And perhaps that realization is just a little bit scary for them.
Ben Jervey, Desmogblog
Ben Jervey has been covering and working in the climate, energy, and environmental fields for a decade. He is regular contributor to DeSmogBlog. He was the original Environment Editor for GOOD Magazine, and wrote a longstanding weekly column titled "The New Ideal: Building the clean energy economy of the 21st Century and avoiding the worst fates of climate change." He also contributes to National Geographic News, Grist, OnEarth Magazine, and many other online and print publications. His book-"The Big Green Apple: Your Guide to Eco-Friendly Living in New York City"-has been called the "bible of green living for NYC."
For the past few months, when they dare venture out to the supermarket, to church, or to a climate rally, Bill McKibben, Tom Steyer, and other climate activists are being stalked by a team of GOP-trained camera operators. The so-called "trackers" with the cameras are working for a group called America Rising Squared (aka America Rising Advanced Research or AR2), and publishing the occasional "embarrassing" display of alleged hypocrisy on a website called CoreNews.org.
DeSmog first covered this new "creepy" campaign back in May, and since then, the harrassment has only gotten worse, as Bill McKibben writes in Sunday's New York Times. In his op-ed, "My Right Wing Stalkers" (the web headline is: "Embarrassing Photos of Me, Thanks to My Right-Wing Stalkers"), McKibben describes what it's like to live under surveillance, and the psychological toll that it takes on him and his family. (One particularly infuriating detail: McKibben's daughter believes that she, too, is being filmed in public.)
McKibben writes:
To be watched so much is a kind of never-ending nightmare. And sometimes it's just infuriating. I skipped the funeral this summer of Patrick Sorrento, an important mentor to me at my college newspaper, because I didn't want my minder to follow me and cause a distracting spectacle. When my daughter reports someone taking pictures of her at the airport, it drives me nuts. I have no idea if it's actually this outfit; common decency would suggest otherwise, but that seems an increasingly rare commodity.
Almost as startling as the tactics of the campaign is how closely it is tied to the mainstream Republican establishment. Core News (and by extension, America Rising Squared) might have the look and feel of a Right Wing lunatic fringe campaign funded by the darkest of oil and gas money. But in actuality it's a foundational block of a prominent GOP opposition research firm, the heads of which have collectively spent decades working for big name Republicans like Mitt Romney, Marco Rubio, John McCain, and even the National Republican Congressional Commitee and the Republican National Committee itself.
Check out this network map (built on LittleSis) to see for yourself how Core News is directly tied to the Republican establishment's leading opposition researchers. And for good measure, here is DeSmog's profile of the entire America Rising family tree, with branches including America Rising LLC, America Rising PAC, America Rising Squared, Definers Public Affairs, and Core News.
As you can see, the founders of America Rising are both longtime GOP establishment insiders. Matt Rhoades has worked on presidential campaigns going back to Bush-Cheney in 2004, and was Mitt Romney's campaign director for his failed 2012 bid. Joe Pounder was Research Director for the Republican National Committee at the time, and it was out of the ashes of that campaign that the idea of America Rising was born.
Brian Rogers, the Executive Director of America Rising Squared, was a longtime staffer with Senator John McCain and--oddly enough--briefly served as research director for Al Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection.
Of the "trackers" campaign and Core News, Rogers has said his group will "hold Steyer and the Environmentalist Left accountable for their epic hypocrisy and extreme positions which threaten America's future prosperity." Though there's no indication yet that Rogers' trackers will be following his old boss, former Vice President Gore, around with cameras.
Who is paying America Rising Squared to stalk McKibben, Steyer, and others?
It's hard to say, as donations to America Rising Squared needn't be declared, as the entity is incorporated as a nonprofit 501(c)4. In fact, the various entities under the America Rising umbrella give the enterprise a flexible structure that can serve different purposes. The PAC can purchase research from the LLC and can sell or disseminate it to other organizations. The nonprofit AR2 doesn't have to declare its donors. America Rising LLC is a business that can sell its services with no disclosures necessary.
According to OpenSecrets.org, the Republican National Committee spent at least $183,900 on America Rising in the 2016 election cycle, with an additional $45,000 from the National Republican Congressional Committee.All told, America Rising had a budget of $8 million for the 2014 elections and is seeking to nearly double this.
Again, for a whole lot more background on America Rising, including a list of known leadership and staff and reported funding, check out DeSmog's profile of the entire America Rising enterprise.
As Bill McKibben sums up in his op-ed, these stalkers aren't fooling anyone, and the truth is that the entrenched special interests who hired them are the ones running scared:
Merely having someone with a camera follow you somehow makes you feel as if you're doing something wrong. My house is covered in solar panels, and I plug my car into a socket those panels power. But environmentalists also live in the world we're trying to change: We take airplanes and rent buses for rallies; we make a living, shop for groceries. None of this should demand an apology. Changing the system, not perfecting our own lives, is the point. "Hypocrisy" is the price of admission in this battle.
And despite what the industry and its advocates insist, that does not make us all equally responsible for the climate crisis.
We're fighting for policy changes that will make it possible for us to have better choices: utilities that offer us renewable options, electric trains that make short-haul flights obsolete, public transit. Exxon and its ilk have been fighting for decades to keep these choices out of our reach, and then claim that we are voting with our dollars every time we sit in traffic or heat our homes with fossil fuels supplied by a utility that has a monopoly. They can play gotcha as much as they want, but all it proves is how badly we need better options. And we are still going to fight like heck to make sure options are available to everyone.
...
The fossil-fuel industry may threaten us as a planet, as a nation, and as individuals, but when we rise up together we've got a fighting chance against the powers that be.
And perhaps that realization is just a little bit scary for them.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.
LATEST NEWS
Elon Musk Dropping Millions on Wisconsin Supreme Court Race to Rig Political Maps for GOP
"Wisconsin voters should get to decide this election, not the richest billionaire in the world," said the Working Families Party.
Mar 25, 2025
Early voting is underway for the April 1 election to determine ideological control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and right-wing billionaire Elon Musk recently admitted why he is pouring millions of dollars into the close contest: It "will decide how congressional districts are drawn" in the state.
As Mother Jones' Ari Berman reported Tuesday, Musk—the richest person in the world and a key figure in Republican President Donald Trump's administration—made that comment Saturday, while hosting the right-wing candidate, Judge Brad Schimel of Waukesha County, and U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), for a discussion on X, the billionaire's social media platform.
Musk said that if Judge Susan Crawford of Dane County wins, "then the Democrats will attempt to redraw the districts and cause Wisconsin to lose two Republican seats. In my opinion that's the most important thing, which is a big deal given that the congressional majority is so razor-thin. It could cause the House to switch to Democrat if that redrawing takes place."
Liberals have had a 4-3 majority on the swing state's highest court since the 2023 election of Justice Janet Protasiewicz. Crawford and Schimel are fighting for a 10-year term filling the seat now occupied by 74-year-old left-leaning Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, who decided not to seek reelection. In addition to determining the future of Republicans' 6-2 advantage for congressional districts, next week's election is expected to impact abortion care, labor rights, and voter suppression efforts in Wisconsin.
From @ariberman.bsky.social: Elon Musk revealed why he's spending millions to flip the Wisconsin Supreme Court It’s all about preserving gerrymandered districts that lock in Republican power. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
[image or embed]
— Joe Sudbay (@joesudbay.bsky.social) March 25, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Berman noted that if Crawford won and Wisconsin's maps changed before the 2026 midterm elections, a Democrat-controlled U.S. House of Represntatives could "scrutinize the unprecedented role Musk is playing in shredding the federal government, accessing sensitive personal information on millions of Americans, and the $38 billion in federal funding his businesses receive."
The billionaire also has a personal stake in the race related to one of his businesses. As The New York Times noted Saturday: "A conservative-controlled court could be in a position to issue a Musk-friendly decision in a lawsuit from his electric car company, Tesla, challenging Wisconsin's law prohibiting vehicle manufacturers from owning dealerships. On social media, Mr. Musk began to show interest in the Wisconsin court election eight days after Tesla filed the lawsuit in January."
Crawford campaign spokesperson Derrick Honeyman told The Associated Press on Monday that "this race is the first real test point in the country on Elon Musk and his influence on our politics, and voters want an opportunity to push back on that and the influence he is trying to make on Wisconsin and the rest of country."
As of Tuesday, Musk has recently given at least $3 million to the state's Republican Party, according to WisPolitics—which has also "tracked nearly $19.5 million in spending" on the race by two political action committees (PACs) affiliated with the billionaire.
GOP paid canvasser shows depth of support for Schimel. None. www.jsonline.com/story/news/p...
[image or embed]
— Mark Pocan (@markpocan.bsky.social) March 25, 2025 at 9:58 AM
As Common Dreams reported last week, Musk's America PAC is also offering registered Wisconsin voters $100 if they sign a petition opposing "activist judges," which led critics to accuse the billionaire of trying to buy the state Supreme Court seat.
Those critics include the Working Families Party, which has sent a pair of emails in recent days highlighting how much Musk has spent "to install MAGA extremist Brad Schimel" on the court, and arguing that "Wisconsin voters should get to decide this election, not the richest billionaire in the world."
Forbes reported Tuesday that "Musk is far from the only billionaire who is financially backing the Wisconsin Supreme Court race. Among the other billionaires listed in public filings as spending thousands to support Schimel—either directly or through the Wisconsin Republican Party—are ABC Supply co-founder Diane Hendricks, Uline president Elizabeth Uihlein, Uline CEO Richard Uihlein, and Joe Ricketts, the founder of TD Ameritrade and owner of the Chicago Cubs. Crawford has also drawn significant billionaire support from the likes of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, and Democratic megadonor George Soros, who gave the Wisconsin Democratic Party $1 million in January."
WisPolitics noted Tuesday that "Crawford has now reported $26.5 million raised, a record for any judicial candidate in U.S. history," while Schimel "has now raised $14.3 million." However, according to Michael Waldman, president and CEO of the Brennan Center for Justice, dark money on the race is favoring the right-wing candidate.
"It's already the most expensive judicial race in American history," Waldman said in a Tuesday newsletter. "According to data collected by the Brennan Center and analyzed by my colleagues Ian Vandewalker and Douglas Keith, campaigns and committees have spent $81 million so far, with a week to go."
"Much of the money being spent is untraceable," he stressed. "As the latest data shows, Crawford's campaign spending of $22 million is more than double that of Schimel's $10.4 million. But independent groups like super PACs and nonprofits spending untraceable dark money favor Schimel by a much larger margin: $13.5 million benefiting Crawford compared with almost $35.5 million boosting Schimel."
Schimel also got a boost on Friday from Trump, who endorsed him on social media, writing in part that "Radical Left Liberal Susan Crawford... is the handpicked voice of the Leftists who are out to destroy your State, and our Country." The president added Saturday: "It's a really big and important race, and could have much to do with the future of our Country. Get out and VOTE, NOW, for the Republican Candidate—BRAD!!!"
Meanwhile, Crawford is backed by groups like Wisconsin Conservation Voters IEC, which has invested more than $1.13 million to turn voters out in support of her.
"The stakes in this election could not be higher," the group's deputy director, Seth Hoffmeister, said in a Tuesday statement. "Judge Susan Crawford will defend our democracy and protect Wisconsin's natural resources. She is a strong advocate for the values that make Wisconsin great—fairness, accountability, and a commitment to serving the people, not polluters. Judge Crawford will ensure that our State Supreme Court remains independent and dedicated to upholding the rights and freedoms of all Wisconsinites."
Privatization Warnings Flash Red as Senate Republicans Advance Dr. Oz for Medicare Chief
"Given Dr. Oz's history of basically acting as a salesman for Medicare Advantage, putting him in charge of regulating these middlemen would be like letting the fox guard the henhhouse," said one Democratic senator.
Mar 25, 2025
The U.S. Senate Finance Committee voted along party lines Tuesday to advance the nomination of Dr. Mehmet Oz, President Donald Trump's nominee to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a move that drew widespread rebuke from consumer advocates and others who pointed to the celebrity surgeon's advocacy for private Medicare Advantage plans and other red flags.
The Finance Committee voted 14-13 to send Oz's nomination to a full Senate vote, with Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) hailing the former television talk show host's "years of experience as an acclaimed physician and public health advocate."
However, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the committee's ranking member, said he voted against Oz, explaining that the nominee "was given the chance to assure the American people that he would not be a rubber stamp for Republicans' plans to gut Medicaid" and raise Affordable Care Act premiums, but "at every turn, he failed the test."
"No senator should be fooled by the snake oil Oz is selling."
Wyden said he is "deeply concerned about Dr. Oz's history marketing Medicare Advantage plans," which, as frequent Common Dreams opinion contributor Thom Hartmann explained, are not part of Medicare but are a private health insurance "scam" created by a Republican-controlled Congress and signed into law by then-President George W. Bush "as a way of routing hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars into the pockets of for-profit insurance companies.
Wyden added, "Given Dr. Oz's history of basically acting as a salesman for Medicare Advantage, putting him in charge of regulating these middlemen would be like letting the fox guard the henhouse."
Last December, the watchdog Accountable.US revealed that Oz had invested as much as $56 million in three companies with wdirect CMS interests. In 2022, Oz's single biggest healthcare holding was up to $26 million in Sharecare, a digital health company he co-founded, and which became the exclusive in-home supplemental care program for 1.5 million Medicare Advantage customers. Nick Clemens, Oz's spokesperson on the Trump transition team, told USA TODAY last December that Oz sold his stake in Sharecare.
These and other apparent conflicts of interest prompted denunciations from progressive groups and Democratic lawmakers including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who also called attention to Oz's promotion of "quack treatments and cures in the interest of personal financial gain."
Robert Weissman, co-president of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, said Tuesday: "Mehmet Oz is fundamentally unqualified for the position of administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and should never have been nominated for the position based on his conflicts of interest alone. The Senate Finance Committee should have unanimously rejected his confirmation."
Weissman continued:
Under Oz's watch, could strip crucial healthcare services through Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act could be stripped from hundreds of millions of Americans. As he showed in his confirmation hearing, Oz would seek to further privatize Medicare, threatening access to care for tens of millions of Americans. Privatized Medicare Advantage plans deliver inferior care and cost taxpayers nearly $100 billion annually in excess costs.
He also refused to commit to push back on efforts to slash Medicaid, which would harm access to care for millions—especially the poor and vulnerable—just so Trump and [and his adviser Elon] Musk can give tax breaks to their billionaire buddies.
"We need a CMS administrator who believes in the importance of protecting crucial health programs like Medicare and Medicaid hand would put patients ahead of corporate profits," Weissman added. "We can only hope that sanity prevails when Oz comes for a vote before the full Senate. No senator should be fooled by the snake oil Oz is selling."
Tuesday's vote came as congressional Republicans seek to
slash $880 billion from programs overseen by the House Energy and Commerce Committee—which include Medicaid—in order to help pay for Trump's $4.5 trillion tax cut, which experts say would overwhelmingly benefit the ultrawealthy and corporations.
65+ Progressive Groups Urge Senate to Reject Mike Huckabee as Israel Envoy
"Huckabee uses his Christianity to justify ethnic cleansing," said one protestor at Huckabee's confirmation hearing.
Mar 25, 2025
Dozens of progressive, faith, and human rights groups on Monday sent a letter to U.S. Senate leaders and the top lawmakers on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urging them to oppose the nomination of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as ambassador to Israel, calling him "unfit" and citing his "extreme views supporting the Israeli government's genocide of Palestinians."
The letter was released a day prior to Huckabee's confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The hearing on Tuesday was interrupted by protestors who had messages such as: "Huckabee uses his Christianity to justify ethnic cleansing." Huckabee is an evangelical Christian and longtime supporter of Israel who has pushed Christian Zionist views.
Huckabee, who has taken more than 100 trips to Israel since 1973, has "consistently engaged in inflammatory and discriminatory statements that demonize Palestinians and Muslims," according to the letter.
On the campaign trail in 2008, Huckabee told a rabbi in Massachusetts that "there's really no such thing as a Palestinian." During a trip to the West Bank in 2017, Huckabee said: "there is no such thing as a West Bank... There's no such thing as a settlement. They're communities, they're neighborhoods, they're cities. There's no such thing as an occupation."
The letter, which was from over 65 organizations including Jewish Voice for Peace Action, CodePink, and Hindus for Human Rights, argues that Huckabee's "Christian nationalist beliefs are also inherently a form of antisemitism, as it is predicated on the expulsion of Jews from the diaspora to the land of Palestine and the demonization of Palestinians and Muslims as enemies of God."
"At a time when the United States should strive to rebuild its credibility, appointing an individual with a history of extremist, apocalyptic, and hateful views to such a critical role would be a grave mistake," the letter states.
Israel's deadly campaign on the Gaza Strip that began in October 2023 has now killed over 50,000 people, according to local health officials. Last week, Israel resumed strikes following a cease-fire that last roughly two months after Israel refused to hold talks regarding a permanent end to the war.
At the confirmation hearing, Huckabee attempted to distance himself from his past statements about Palestinians, according to The Associated Press, and said he would "carry out the president's priorities, not mine."
The groups who sent the letter Monday are not alone in opposing Huckabee's nomination. Pro-Israel voices have also said he is not right for the role.
Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), who is Jewish, said in a statement Monday that Huckabee is "woefully unfit" to serve as ambassador to Israel and a "vote for Huckabee is a vote to empower a Christian nationalist vision for American foreign policy."
Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of the pro-Israel group J Street, said in a statement Monday that Huckabee's views "would undermine American interests and the administration's own stated commitment to pursuit of long-term regional peace and security."
"Mr. Huckabee's embrace of annexation, extremist settlers, and fanatical Christian Zionism stands in stark contrast to the Jewish, democratic values held by the overwhelming majority of our community—and in stark contrast to Israel's founding values of justice, equality and peace," he also said.
Most Popular
We cover the issues the corporate media never will.
Please support our journalism.