by HEATHER DIGBY PARTON
It used to be that the annual Conservative Political Action Conference was the gathering where all the right-wing activists and conservative intellectuals would meet to compare notes and get on the same page. A raucous affair with lots of snarky panels and right-wing celebrities, CPAC also featured serious speeches and presentations by conservative politicians, writers and thinkers. While the conference still exists, it’s no longer the only game in town.
Turning Point USA, founded by the late Charlie Kirk, has attracted the entertaining activist types, while the more staid National Conservatism Conference brings together the more serious thinkers. Held last week in Washington, D.C., NatCon featured speakers and panels that plotted an even more conservative future that was downright chilling.
“Overturn Obergefell” was one featured panel, the AP’s Joey Cappelletti reported. “The Bible and American Renewal” was another. The conference, he wrote, “underscored the movement’s vision of an America rooted in limited immigration, Christian identity and the preservation of what speakers called the nation’s traditional culture” — which is putting it very mildly. It certainly doesn’t seem there was much talk of individual freedom, free markets or liberty of any kind, and that is a big change from the conservative movement that has dominated Republican politics since the Reagan administration.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Director Office of Management and Budget (and lead Project 2025 author) Russell Vought, border czar Tom Homan and disbarred attorney John Eastman — who helped to plot a radical strategy to keep President Donald Trump in office after the 2020 election — were among those in attendance, representing some of MAGA’s most extreme policy leaders.
As Congress wakes up from its self-imposed slumber to face the prospect of yet another government shutdown showdown, what Vought said has particular salience. He “declared that the Government Accountability Office ‘shouldn’t exist’ after it said his latest effort to claw back funds already approved by Congress is illegal,” according to Cappelletti. “On the broader push for the rollback of appropriated funds, or rescissions, he said, ‘If Congress has given us authority that is too broad, then we’re going to use that authority aggressively to protect the American people.’”
There’s lots of paternalistic Daddy talk these days that centers on the need to “protect the American people.” (Some corners of MAGA have even taken to calling Trump “Daddy.”) But Vought’s underlying message showcased a more aggressive Daddy. According to most reports, his underlying message was reflected in a reckless refrain heard throughout the conference: “You can just do things!”
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