It organized significant opposition to Obama administration initiatives such as global warming regulation, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the expansion of Medicaid, and economic stimulus.

AFP advocated for limits on the collective bargaining rights of public-sector trade unions and for right-to-work laws and opposed raising the federal minimum wage.

AFP, an educational social welfare organization, and the associated Americans for Prosperity Foundation, a public charity, are tax-exempt nonprofits.

[17] Its current stated mission is "to mobilize citizens to advocate for policies that cut red tape and increase opportunity, put the brakes on government overspending, and get the economy working for hard workers – not special interests".

[19] According to NBC News, The New York Times and others, some of AFP's policy positions align with the business interests of the Koch brothers and Koch Industries, including its support for rescinding energy regulations and environmental restrictions; expanding domestic energy production; lowering taxes; and reducing government spending, especially Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

[35] As of mid-September 2018, AFP has become one of just 15 groups that account for three-quarters of the anonymous cash following the 2010 Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. FEC, which paved the way for dark money to flow into U.S.

[56] For example, the Sunlight Foundation and others have accused non-disclosing political groups like AFP of filing for nonprofit status solely to invoke the right to hide their donors.

[48][57] President Obama, speaking at a Democratic National Committee fundraising dinner in August 2010, criticized AFP for its political spending and non-disclosure of donors.

[95] AFP helped organize and publicize a "Porkulus"-themed protest on the state capitol steps in Denver, Colorado on February 17, 2009, in conjunction with Obama signing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

[7] On April 16, 2011, former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin was the keynote speaker at an AFP annual tax day tea party rally at the state capitol in Madison, Wisconsin.

AFP supported tea party groups, purchased political advertisements,[56] and sponsored a nationwide bus tour themed "November is Coming" to recruit organizers and canvassers.

[40] David Weigel wrote in Slate that AFP "in the Tea Party era evolved into one of the most powerful conservative organizations in electoral politics.

[105] In 2011, when Walker's agenda of reduced spending, cuts to union benefits, and limits on public-sector collective bargaining drew thousands in opposition to the streets around the state capitol in Madison, AFP bussed in hundreds to counter-protest.

[119] Americans for Prosperity's Wisconsin campaign curtailing collective bargaining rights and turning back a recall demonstrated to AFP that similar efforts could succeed in Michigan.

[121][122][123] AFP had opposed Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, a Republican, on a number of issues, including the Detroit River International Crossing Bridge project, an expansion of Medicaid funded by the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and a road bill which raised taxes.

[126] On December 10, President Obama visited Daimler AG's Detroit Diesel factory in Redford, Michigan, and told employees the legislation was about the "right to work for less money.

[134] While previously AFP had run issue advertising that opposed Obama's programs, in August 2012 the organization shifted to express advocacy, which explicitly called for his defeat.

[3][26][83] In 2011 and 2012, AFP spent $8.4 million in swing states on television advertisements denouncing a loan guarantee the Department of Energy had made to Solyndra, a manufacturer of solar panels.

"[141][142][143] In April 2011 in New Hampshire, AFP sponsored an informal gathering of five Republican presidential candidates, including Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum, and Herman Cain.

[146] AFP employed methodologies developed in its efforts to thwart the recall of Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, including deploying a smartphone application called "Prosperity Knocks" to canvassers.

[151] AFP helped defeat proposed U.S. legislation embracing cap and trade, a market-based approach to control pollution by providing economic incentives.

[159][160] Long lines formed in several states in 2012 when AFP offered drivers gas discounted to the price in effect when Obama took office.

[178][179][180] In March 2012, AFP, with support from the California-based Tea Party Express, organized a rally at the Capitol during the Supreme Court's oral arguments regarding the constitutionality of the ACA.

[189] AFP lead all non-political action committees in terms of spending on television air time for political advertisements in the 2014 election cycle through April.

[191] Within two days of Obama's inauguration in January 2009, AFP launched a television advertising campaign and a website, "nostimulus.com", that featured an online "No Stimulus" petition addressed to U.S. senators, notifying them that the vote on Obama's first major legislative initiative, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, would be included in AFP's congressional rankings and urging a "no" vote.

[24][209][210] In 2013 in Indiana, AFP ran a television advertising campaign in support of Governor Mike Pence's ten percent state income tax cut.

[27] In 2011, AFP sent mailings and funded radio advertisements criticizing the proposed construction of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, a publicly financed project that would compete with the nearby privately owned Ambassador Bridge linking Detroit, Michigan, with Windsor, Ontario; AFP charged that the project would be a waste of taxpayer money if toll revenues did not cover debt service.

[226] In 2016, AFP sponsored the Grassroots Leadership Academy, a training program designed to help build a conservative movement in response to the rise of Trumpism.

[227] In February 2023, the group hardened its stance against Trump, saying it would work to support a different Republican presidential nominee and that "we need to turn the page on the past".

[252] In April 2014, AFP mailed voters in at least eight West Virginia counties material that may have led them to believe they were ineligible to vote in an upcoming primary election.