[29] In September 2022 The Wall Street Journal published Towey’s opinion piece, “Mother Teresa and the ‘Sisters Who Stay,’” which highlighted her religious order’s ongoing work throughout the world in the 25 years since her death.

[30] Towey reentered the political sphere in 1990 as aide to Lawton Chiles, the newly elected governor of Florida, assisting him as a liaison to religious communities.

[32] In August 1992, after Hurricane Andrew struck Dade County, Towey oversaw the (at that time) largest mass distribution of food stamps in U.S. history, amounting to over US$81 million in emergency aid.

[32] During Towey’s 23-month tenure, HRS turned to more community-based decision making; reduced its error rate in food stamp payments; settled a foster care lawsuit; increased adoptions; carried out the nation's first “two-years-and-you're-out” welfare reform program; began ironing out wrinkles in a multimillion-dollar computer system; divested itself of a taxpayer-subsidized golf course at a North Florida mental hospital; and diversified its management team to include more women, Blacks and Hispanics.

Together with Kate Callahan, a Miami nurse, and other leading end-of-life experts, he created the original version of the Five Wishes booklet, a combined advance directive and living will.

On February 1, 2002, President George W. Bush named Towey the Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.

[53] Towey supported proposed legislation increasing tax incentives for charitable donation and extending the ministerial exemption to faith-based organizations.

[56][63][64] In February 2008, nearly three quarters of the tenured faculty signed a letter of concern to the college's board of directors regarding Towey, stating that he had shown "systematic and pervasive disregard for collegiality and shared governance" and had "brought about an unparalleled crisis".

[58] An additional source of conflict during his tenure at Saint Vincent College was derived from a lawsuit between key officials of the university and a Monk and member of the staff at the time, Father Mark Gruber.

[56] In the interval between his departure from Saint Vincent and his hiring by Ave Maria University in 2011, Towey worked as a consultant for Aging with Dignity and the Papal Foundation.

According to then chairman of the Board Michael Timmis, Towey increased undergrad enrollment by 70%, raised over 80 million dollars, added 24 majors to the university, and he successfully reattained accreditation through 2025.

It is noteworthy that upon Towey's arrival, he cut the budget by 3.6 million dollars to keep the school afloat, and went on to earn an investment grade credit rating with a "stable outlook by Standard and Poor's.

[72] In 2016, Towey was sued for alleged involvement in manipulating the funds of Rhodora J. Donahue Academy of Ave Maria, a private K–12 school affiliated at the time with AMU.

[73][74][75] Shortly before Towey's scheduled deposition in 2017, AMU agreed to sell Donahue to the Diocese of Venice for US$1 million—less than one fifth of the school building's appraised value—and the lawsuit was withdrawn.

[81][82] Viganò had accused Pope Francis and other members of the hierarchy of the Catholic Church of having known of then-cardinal Theodore McCarrick's alleged sexual misconduct.

The release of the Archbishop’s manifesto seemed timed to inflict the maximum damage possible to the Pope’s credibility, and the choreographed chorus of support by others in league with them, was just as troubling.

Those so-called conservative Catholics who now challenge the Holy Father’s legitimate authority and openly undermine his papacy, are betraying their own principles and hurting the Church they profess to love.

They should stop now.Towey's remarks met with a swift backlash from Ave Maria University alumni and from other Catholics, some of whom interpreted the statement as dismissive of the victims of the alleged sexual abuse.

[88][89] In 2016, Towey appeared in a video advertisement for the Florida congressional candidate Francis Rooney, stating, "Mother Teresa always spoke very eloquently about the sanctity of life. ...

He asked Towey to provide proof that he represented the Missionaries of Charity, a list of recipients of the letter, and information about whether the Dietzen photo was copyrighted.

[95] In Oct. 2022, the National Review also published an article by Towey that highlighted his support for improved end-of-life care and his fervent opposition to the spread of physician-assisted suicide.