From around 2004 to 2019,[2] with "foresight and perseverance",[1] the brothers organized like-minded wealthy libertarian-oriented conservatives, spent hundreds of millions of dollars of their own money to build an "integrated" and "stealth" network of think tanks, foundations, "grassroots" movements,[2] academic programs, advocacy and legal groups to "destroy the prevalent statist paradigm",[3] and reshape public opinion to favor minimal government.
[2] In an April 3, 2014, op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal, Charles described himself as involved in politics "only reluctantly and recently" and "only in the past decade", starting with the founding of the biannual donor seminars; however, the nonpartisan fact-checking group PolitiFact found the Kochs had "made many campaign contributions prior to 2004", coming to approximately $7 million, in addition to federal lobbying and contributions to conservative ideological think tanks (Cato Institute, the Reason Foundation, the Mercatus Center, and Citizens for a Sound Economy).
On at least two occasions, David Koch voiced support for positions at odds with conservative Republican orthodoxy, such as social liberalism, legal abortion,[10][11] same-sex marriage, using defense spending cuts and tax increases to balance the budget, and a withdrawal by the U.S. military from the Middle East.
[28] According to writer Eric Black, the brothers move to the Republican Party doesn't stem from "a change of heart, but one of tactics" since libertarianism "was costly and could be bad for the family business long term.
[10] Charles Koch funds and supports libertarian organizations such as the Cato Institute,[34] which he co-founded with Edward H. Crane and Murray Rothbard in 1977,[35] and is a board member at the Mercatus Center, market-oriented research think tank at George Mason University.
[44] The Kochs have been accused of setting the general tone of Trump and the Trump-dominated Republican Party,[79] helping to "convince voters that Washington was corrupt and broken and that, when it came to governing, knowing nothing was preferable to expertise.
[2]According to a description in The Washington Post, the Stand Together Foundation is the name of a nonprofit arm that the Koch apparatus created in 2016 "to support community groups addressing maladies like poverty, addiction, recidivism, gang violence and homelessness" and has as of 2019 "provided grants to 140 organizations".
[2] As early as mid-2015, The ew York Times reported: "Once known for grim letters to fellow wealthy Americans warning of socialist apocalypse, Charles G. Koch now promotes research on the link between freedom and everyday happiness.
James Davis, a spokesman for Freedom Partners, “In light of the barrage of political attacks and distortions of our record, beliefs, and vision, we are taking the steps necessary to get our story out to the public.”[49] At least one critic (Clay Wirestone) maintains "Koch-affiliated groups" are still active "at the front lines of our current culture wars".
Circa 2015, national opinion polls indicated public support for a government action to address global warming, raise taxes on the rich and close loopholes that benefited them, increase funding for social security, or infrastructure, limits on campaign spending.
Inside the beltway of the nation's capital, where the success of the Koch network's election campaign victories meant a majority in congress, there was an embrace of austerity, tax cuts for "job creators", and a dismissal as "out of the question" measures fighting global warming and inequality.
[6] The network was founded by Charles and David Koch and is made up of "several hundred",[6] (another estimate is about 500)[92] donors who pay a minimum of $100,000 each year, and work to influence American life in a conservative direction.
[104] The two brothers' foundations have provided an estimated $1.5 billion to a variety of causes and institutions including public television, medical research, higher education, environmental stewardship, criminal justice reform and the arts.
"[155] In response, John Hardin, who is a program officer with the Charles Koch Foundation, stated that, "when we support a school's initiative, it is to expand opportunity and increase the diversity of ideas available on campus.
Doing so would have meant 80% of the known coal, oil and gas reserves owned by industry would have to "stay unused in the ground"—a potentially "catastrophic" financial loss to these fossil fuel titans according to climate scientists and journalist Jane Mayer.
[171] Through Americans for Prosperity, the Koch brothers influenced more than 400 members of Congress to sign a pledge to vote against "legislation relating to climate change that includes a net increase in government revenue".
[191][192] Koch brothers-funded Americans for Prosperity and Generation Opportunity[193] ran more than $3 million worth of advertisements opposing the Affordable Care Act, including a series of ads in which Uncle Sam was depicted as a "creepy" doctor.
The ads are directed at women and young adults and are designed to "undermine confidence"[194] and to dissuade younger people from enrolling in health care coverage through exchanges which opened October 1, 2013.
[207][208] The Koch network, at their 2018 meeting the launch of Safe Streets and Second Chances, announced a $4 million pilot project designed to shift the American criminal justice system from punishment to prioritizing rehabilitation.
[206][211] The Koch-funded American Institute for Economic Research sponsored the Great Barrington Declaration, a statement that advocates an alternative, risk-based approach to the COVID-19 pandemic that involves "Focused Protection" of those most at risk and seeks to avoid or minimize the societal harm of the COVID-19 lockdowns.
Among other things the proposed letter asserted that "young kids do not significantly spread COVID either" and claimed that "common sense" teaches that requiring masks in school may lead to anxiety, depression, decreases in socialization skills, and increases in tooth decay in children.
In March 2020 the Koch-funded Mercatus Center at George Mason University awarded an Emergent Ventures grant to Neil M. Ferguson of Imperial College London for "good policy thinking" in support of his COVID-19 epidemiological model.
[219] A grant from the Charles Koch Foundation funded a National Bureau of Economic Research study finding that California's shelter-in-place style lockdown policy "led to as many as 1,661 fewer COVID-19 deaths" in the spring of 2020.
[220] A Koch Foundation grant supported a study by the IZA Institute of Labor Economics, attributing a Superspreader event to the lack of social distancing at the August 2020 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.
[224] Some gay rights advocates have complained that despite the brothers' vocal ideological libertarian stand against "government ‘intrusions,’ including ... laws that criminalized homosexuality", their devotion to conservative causes sometimes led them to support anti-gay rights politicians, (such as former Vice President Mike Pence, whose two campaigns for governor of Indiana the network "contributed heavily to"), and organizations (such as the American Legislative Exchange Council, which "at least in its early years, strongly opposed LGBTQ equality").
[225] David Koch also voiced support for "women's right to choose";[11] however, critics observed that the Koch brothers network's deep ties to the conservative movement meant it "helped to bankroll the anti-abortion groups" (such as a $500,000 donation to the anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony List) that successfully supported Supreme Court nominees (Neil Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett) who helped overturn Roe v. Wade ruling.
The grant in 2017 [to the Susan B. Anthony List] was the last payment on a previous commitment by Freedom Partners, which was intended to support SBA's grassroots efforts to get-out-the-vote among those concerned about government spending — not issue advocacy.
But Congress must do the work to get this done ... we are devoting resources and marshaling our activists across the nation to contact their elected officials, share their support and urgency, and drive decisive action on these solutions without delay.
Koch Companies Public Sector CEO Philip Ellender responded: "Sen. Reid's divisive remarks were not only disrespectful and beneath the office he holds, they were indicative of what lengths he and his Democratic allies will go to eliminate and silence their political opposition.
It acknowledged funding libertarian and conservative causes,[236] but stated there were inaccuracies and distortions in Mayer's article, and that she failed to identify alleged conflicts of interest on the part of several persons whom she quoted.