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Largest public-sector unions spent eye-popping amount on left-wing politics — 86% funded by member dues
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EXCLUSIVE: The country’s four largest public-sector unions spent a combined $915 million on elections and progressive political activism during the 2024 election cycle, 86% of which came from member dues.
The Commonwealth Foundation, a Pennsylvania-based nonprofit promoting free-market policies, highlighted the massive political spending by the National Education Association (NEA), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) in a new report released this week.
The foundation published a similar report during the 2022 election cycle that found all four of these unions spent $708 million on progressive politics,
The report’s findings, particularly that 86% of the unions’ nearly $1 billion in political spending stems from membership dues, underscore criticism that these entities work more to push a political agenda than support their members.
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«What they’re doing when they’re making these political investments is they’re trying to get people into office that will raise taxes and increase the size and scope of government,» public sector unions expert Aaron Withe told Fox News Digital. «That’s the way that it’s been working for decades. That’s why you see the government grows every single year. That’s why you see taxes go up most every year as well.»
Withe, a critic of both public- and private-sector unions, said private-sector unions at least have an incentive structure based on a company’s or industry’s bottom line, but public-sector unions, Withe argued, are incentivized by raising taxes and growing government.
«When you look at union spending in politics, you have to remember that their goal — their primary purpose is a business — so they’re there to grow revenue. They’re there to gain more revenue than the year previously,» Withe pointed out. «The difference with the government union is that that revenue comes from public employees. And the way that you hire more public employees is by raising taxes on the private sector so that you can hire more bureaucrats.»
David Osborne, senior director of labor policy for the Commonwealth Foundation and co-author of the report, said «the big question» from his report is whether rank-and-file union members are aware of how their money is actually being spent.
«Years ago, [union members] could expect union executives to use dues to drive member services, including contract negotiations and grievance processing,» Osborne said. «Now, union members are unwittingly propping up left-leaning candidates and progressive causes like abortion, critical race theory and defunding the police.»
MY TEACHERS UNION CALLS IT REPRESENTATION. I SAY THERE ARE $114 MILLION REASONS TO SUE THEM
Presidents of the nation’s two largest teachers unions, pictured above, Becky Pringle, left, of the National Education Association, and Randi Weingarten, right, of the American Federation of Teachers. (Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for March For Our Lives)
According to the Commonwealth Foundation’s report, the findings show that approximately 25% of the group’s total spending — or $642 million — goes toward «representational activities,» which the report describes as «the spending category most closely tied to membership support.» Meanwhile, the unions also spent about a combined 33% of their total spending — or $845 million — on general overhead, union administration, staff benefits and other cost categories «linked to basic operations.»
But spending on elections and progressive political activism surpassed both those categories. Collectively, the unions spent around $755 million on federal elections and national progressive politics, while their state-level affiliates combined to spend another $160 million on state races and ideological causes. Of that spending, $650 million, or 86%, originated from union membership dues, according to the Commonwealth Foundation.
The report notes the unions also collect voluntary political action committee (PAC) deductions from members and their families, which allows the unions to collect money that can then go directly to candidates, something that is not supposed to be done with members’ dues money. The union’s federal PAC spending accounted for 14% of the group’s political spending, according to the report.
Protesters gathered at the D.C. Human Resources office in the Navy Yard neighborhood in Washington Sept. 1. (Fox News Digital/Emma Woodhead)
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«Government unions’ heavy use of membership dues money for politics — more than what they collectively spent on representational activities — underlines a disturbing trend: the growing, overt reliance by union officials to spend member dues rather than political action committee funds on their political and ideological agendas,» the Commonwealth Foundation says in its new report.
«Yet, much of this spending is possible only because of the lack of accountability and control over what powerful union executives do with members’ dues. Union dues, not the separately collected PAC funds, are the overwhelming power behind — 86 percent — of union political spending.
«Few members are aware that union leaders launder much of their dues through super PACs and 527s to back political projects. Even fewer members can effect change within their union to stop it.»
Fox News Digital reached out to the NEA, AFT, SEIU and AFSCME for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.
labor unions,democratic party,democrats elections,politics,taxes
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Netanyahu warns of ‘eighth front’ ideological battle for American hearts and minds with Christian leaders
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used a meeting with Evangelical Christian leaders in Florida today to underscore Israel’s reliance on faith-based allies in the United States, as divisions inside the U.S. over Israel’s war and U.S. support continue to surface.
The meeting came days after Netanyahu held talks on Monday with President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, amid growing debate within conservative circles over the scope of American backing for Israel and the direction of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.
Speaking to the leaders, Netanyahu said Israel has emerged «in many ways victorious» from what he described as a «seven-front war,» but warned that an additional front now looms in the West.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with leaders of the Evangelical Christian community in Florida, accompanied by members of the Israeli delegation. (Amos Ben Gershom / GPO)
«There’s an eighth front,» he said, describing a struggle «for the hearts and minds of people, especially young people in the West, and for me especially in the United States.» He framed that effort not only as Israel’s fight, but as a broader one. «It’s our common Judeo-Christian civilization’s battle,» he said.
The prime minister argued that this ideological front requires the same resolve as military action. «There are some people who believe that faith should be silent and terrorism should be understood,» Netanyahu said. «Faith should speak its voice and terrorism should be confronted, not understood, confronted and defeated.»
Pro-Palestinian Muslim protesters hold a banner saying «From the river to the sea..» and chant at a demonstration calling for an end to Israeli attacks on Gaza. London, UK, Dec. 9, 2023. ( Andy Soloman/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Netanyahu repeatedly emphasized the historical and ideological bond between Christian Zionists and Israel. «You are representatives of the Christian Zionists who made Jewish Zionism possible,» Netanyahu said, crediting U.S. Christian support as central to the reestablishment of the Jewish state. «I can say that we have no better friends.»
TRUMP PICK FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ENVOY VISITS HOLY LAND, CITES STRONG US-ISRAEL BOND
President Donald Trump listens as Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during an arrival at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025. (Alex Brandon/AP)
Netanyahu told the group he had spoken with Trump the day before and described what he sees as global threats facing Israel and its allies. He pointed to «two forces,» identifying «radical Shiite Islam,» led by Iran, and «radical Sunni Islam,» which he said is led by the Muslim Brotherhood.
He also highlighted persecution of Christians in multiple regions, saying Christians are being targeted «in Syria, in Lebanon, in Nigeria, in Turkey, and beyond,» while arguing that Israel plays a unique protective role. «One country protects the Christian community, enables it to grow, defends it, and makes sure that it thrives,» Netanyahu said. «That country is Israel. There is no other. None.»
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People hold an Israeli and US flag in front of a large group of anti-Israel protesters march outside The Grove shopping center on Black Friday, carrying a giant banner reading «Shut it Down for Palestine» in Los Angeles, Nov. 24, 2023. (David Swanson/AFP via Getty Images)
Netanyahu said Israel is working toward broader cooperation to assist Christian communities under threat worldwide. «We are joining an effort to have basically a United Nations of countries that support Christian communities around the world,» he said, adding, «Just as you are helping us, we want to help back.»
Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, who attended the meeting, later wrote on X that Evangelical leaders’ commitment to Israel was «inspiring» and said shared values would «fortify the bond between both our nations.»
benjamin netanyahu,israel,donald trump,evangelical,christianity,wars
En 2050, el mundo científico podría encontrarse ante desafíos cruciales y transformaciones sin precedentes. Según un artículo de Nature, diversos expertos anticipan escenarios que incluyen la amenaza creciente del cambio climático, el impulso de la geoingeniería climática, la posibilidad de misiones humanas a Marte, el avance hacia la inteligencia artificial general, desarrollos revolucionarios en física cuántica, el auge de la medicina personalizada y la continua búsqueda de vida extraterrestre.
A continuación, los próximos desafíos de la ciencia hacia 2050, según los editores de Nature:
Guy Brasseur, modelador climático del Instituto Max Planck de Meteorología, advirtió en Nature que el calentamiento global podría superar ampliamente los 2 °C sobre niveles preindustriales para el año 2040. Hacia 2050, el debate político podría desplazarse del reconocimiento del problema a la discusión sobre intervenciones directas en el clima.
Brasseur subrayó el riesgo de que países opten por soluciones unilaterales, como la inyección de partículas en la atmósfera, lo que podría modificar gravemente los patrones de lluvia y acentuar las desigualdades a nivel mundial. “Creo que debería prohibirse”, dijo Brasseur.
“Si hablamos de ciencia climática, la gente simplemente no quiere saber nada al respecto porque le asustan mucho más otros temas. Quieren comida, quieren paz”, afirmó. Todo esto indica que en 2050 el mundo se enfrentará a la posibilidad de un calentamiento de 3 °C o más para finales de siglo.
Por otro lado, Elina Hiltunen, investigadora de futuro de la Universidad Nacional de Defensa de Helsinki, vislumbró un camino más positivo: la captura de dióxido de carbono podría transformarse en un motor de innovación y economía, permitiendo fabricar materiales, combustibles e incluso fármacos a partir del aire.
La Agencia Espacial Europea ya consulta a la comunidad científica sobre misiones clave para 2050, incluyendo detectores de antimateria, traer muestras congeladas del cuerpo helado de un cometa a la Tierra y aterrizar un robot explorador en la superficie de Mercurio.
El interés mediático, sin embargo, se centra en la misión a Marte. El objetivo declarado de la NASA es enviar humanos al planeta rojo antes de 2050. Paralelamente, Elon Musk ha manifestado que SpaceX podría lograr un viaje no tripulado a Marte pronto.
Emilia Javorsky, del Future of Life Institute, expresó escepticismo sobre la viabilidad a corto plazo de estos planes, recordando que los desafíos biológicos, como la exposición a la radiación y los efectos prolongados de la microgravedad, aún requieren soluciones contundentes: “Este es un campo dirigido principalmente por ingenieros que subestiman enormemente los desafíos biológicos”, remarcó. “Todos dan por sentado que encontraremos material, alguna forma de liberarnos de él”.
Este tema abre interrogantes sobre el alcance de la investigación científica en 2050. Nick Bostrom, autor de Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies (2014), espera que la inteligencia artificial general llegue en 2050 y, con ella, la capacidad de responder “la mayoría de las preguntas que actualmente nos interesan y que, en principio, la ciencia puede responder”.
Alex Ayad, de Outsmart Insight, coincidió en que la IA revolucionará la ciencia, aunque destacó la dificultad para prever cambios más allá de la próxima década.
Combinados con experimentadores robóticos, los sistemas autónomos impulsados por algoritmos perseguirán cada vez más problemas de biotecnología las 24 horas del día, los 7 días de la semana en “laboratorios de luces apagadas” dedicados, afirmó Ayad, llamados así porque no habría personas involucradas.
El campo de la física se anticipa a grandes avances gracias a los nuevos sensores cuánticos en desarrollo, capaces de detectar señales diminutas, como los espines electrónicos individuales, señala Juan Carlos Hidalgo de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México en Cuernavaca.
La integración de estos sensores en detectores avanzados podría permitir la detección de objetos cósmicos como agujeros negros primordiales. “Todo esto nos ayudará a dilucidar la naturaleza de la energía oscura o incluso de la materia oscura”, afirmó Hidalgo.
Respecto a la fusión nuclear, Hidalgo observó que el progreso durante los últimos años ha sido superior al de las cinco décadas previas, y resulta optimista sobre que la tecnología logre su madurez alrededor de 2050.
Según Nature, durante las últimas siete décadas y media, el avance de la ciencia ha dependido en gran medida del respaldo público a la investigación. Esta situación enfrenta riesgos ante la actual expansión del populismo, que prioriza respuestas inmediatas a desafíos complejos, lo que podría dificultar que futuras generaciones de científicos justifiquen la importancia de trabajos a largo plazo.
En economías en dificultades, la reducción del gasto estatal y los cuestionamientos políticos al valor de la ciencia incrementan la presión sobre los investigadores para demostrar la utilidad de sus proyectos. Este escenario amenaza con desplazar el equilibrio entre la investigación básica y la aplicada, favoreciendo aquella que se ajusta a objetivos políticos de corto alcance.
Patrick van der Duin, consultor de prospectiva con sede en La Haya, Países Bajos, y coeditor jefe de la revista Futures señaló: “Eso no es muy bueno para el futuro de la ciencia”.
El envejecimiento demográfico en numerosos países impulsa a los gobiernos a destinar más recursos a estudios médicos enfocados en enfermedades crónicas, aunque el avance tecnológico por sí solo no asegura soluciones definitivas.
Se prevé que, en los próximos años, la disponibilidad y gestión de datos se convertirá en uno de los principales obstáculos para el desarrollo científico.
La medicina personalizada podría convertirse en el eje de la salud pública en 2050, impulsada por el análisis de grandes volúmenes de datos.
Javorsky advirtió que uno de los cuellos de botella será la obtención y gestión de datos clínicos. Superar estos obstáculos dependerá de la colaboración de millones de personas dispuestas a compartir información sensible para el bien común. Si se logra este avance, la identificación de biomarcadores en el proteoma o el metaboloma permitiría transformar el diagnóstico y tratamiento de trastornos psiquiátricos y neurológicos, dejando obsoletos los manuales tradicionales de diagnóstico.
Hiltunen identificó la claytrónica —materiales programables compuestos por enjambres de robots microscópicos— como una de las tecnologías emergentes que podrían transformar tanto bienes cotidianos como la investigación biomédica.
“Así, si tienes una silla, puedes convertirla en una mesa reprogramando el material”, señaló.
Los desarrollos en claytronics tienen el potencial de transformar distintos ámbitos de la investigación, más allá de la fabricación de muebles con formas variables. Esta tecnología podría impactar áreas como la ciencia de materiales y facilitar la creación de réplicas de órganos afectados, útiles para el diseño y evaluación de tratamientos médicos.
El astrónomo René Heller del Instituto Max Planck sostuvo que, aunque se identifiquen millones de exoplanetas antes de 2050, es improbable contar con evidencia suficiente para confirmar vida extraterrestre en ese plazo.
Heller cree que los candidatos que surjan serán objeto de debate y, en muchos casos, refutados o cuestionados durante años. Para el científico, confirmar la existencia de vida fuera de la Tierra podría requerir décadas de discusión: “Sería un proceso de convergencia hacia una teoría aceptada. Quizás hacia finales de siglo, con suerte”, sugirió.
El consenso entre los expertos consultados por Nature es que muchos de los grandes hitos científicos proyectados para 2050 estarán supeditados al progreso tecnológico y a las prioridades políticas y económicas globales. El proceso para confirmar vida fuera de la Tierra será largo y sujeto a continua revisión, asegurando así que la ciencia en 2050 permanezca como un campo abierto para el debate y la exploración en futuras décadas.
inteligencia artificial,AlphaFold,investigación científica,biomedicina,análisis molecular,tecnología,laboratorio,ciencia,innovación,proteínas
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DEI and woke ideology are on life support under Trump’s return to DC, but could come roaring back with rebrand
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President Donald Trump’s early second-term blitz against «woke» ideology, including diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, have rippled far beyond Washington, D.C., as companies roll back such policies.
But the left-wing credos could come roaring back to public view under a rebranding, the president of American Principles Project (APP) told Fox News Digital.
«DEI is still alive. It’s not dead yet. It’s bleeding, right? We’ve got blood here, but we know it’s vulnerable,» Terry Schilling, the president of conservative nonprofit and advocacy group the American Principles Project, told Fox News Digital in a December Zoom interview. «But they’re still in charge of the admissions offices and colleges. They’re still in charge of HR departments, and they’re still largely a part of Silicon Valley.»
American Principles Project has documented the cultural shifts in recent years to embrace DEI initiatives, which conservatives argue replace merit with race and identity preferences that effectively penalize some Americans at work and at school through the expansion of bureaucracy and ideological pressure. Schilling said that while the «woke» push seen under the Biden era is retreating under the Trump administration, it is still alive and could make a return.
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«DEI is retreating,» Schilling said in the interview. «But I think that it’s important that we recognize that DEA is not disbanding, it’s rebranding.»
But the left-wing DEI credos could come roaring back to public view under a rebranding, the president of American Principles Project (APP) told Fox News Digital. (iStock )
Trump swiftly moved to drop the hammer on DEI and woke initiatives upon his return to office in January, including signing an executive order on day one, titled «Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing,» which directed federal agencies to stamp out DEI-style programs across the federal government. The following day, Trump signed a second order aimed at «restoring merit-based opportunity,» including changes for federal contracting and related compliance.
«We’ve ended the tyranny of so-called Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies all across the entire federal government and indeed the private sector and our military. And our country will be woke no longer,» Trump said from the dais in Congress in March, celebrating his administration’s achievement just a few months into the job.
Schilling said Trump turned DEI on its head upon his return to the Oval Office, pointing to his executive orders as death knells heard at the highest echelons of corporate America down to public school classrooms.
«Trump winning the election had a lot to do with this,» Schilling said. «You’re seeing all these CEOs of major tech companies and companies abroad coming to the White House, kissing the ring. They know who’s in power and they’re willing to make deals to get their projects over the finish line. And that’s all great. We should use that. We should us that momentum to further cement opposition to DEI.»
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Silicon Valley has long been viewed and criticized as a powerful weapon used to silence conservatives — such as when social media platforms suppressed news reports on former first son Hunter Biden’s laptop ahead of the 2020 election — with top tech CEOs signaling a Trump-era pivot this year as they work to ink deals to expand their businesses amid the artificial intelligence boom.
President Donald Trump swiftly moved to drop the hammer on DEI and woke initiatives upon his return to office in January. (Alex Brandon/The Associated Press )
«President Trump’s executive orders did so much to cut back against DEI, banning DEI throughout the entire federal workforce, banning schools from using and tying federal funds to whether or not schools are implementing racist policies like DEI has done a lot to curb it,» Schilling said.
«However, these guys are lying in wait,» he added.
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Massive American staple company Target announced the conclusion of DEI goals after a three-year initiative, while Disney also made changes such as removing DEI-related terms from its annual business reports. Cracker Barrel, after a bruising backlash to its branding overhaul earlier in 2025, scrapped remodel plans and reverted to its old logo, with Fox Digital previously reporting the chain eliminated DEI programs as part of its latest changes.
«DEI is an employment issue,» Schilling said. «It’s keeping a large amount of Americans who deserve to have good lives and good incomes out of the workforce simply because they have the wrong color of skin.»
Democrats generally support DEI policies as they see them as a way to expand opportunity and reduce discrimination in hiring, promotion and education, especially for groups they argue have faced historic barriers. Left-wing lawmakers stretching from members of the Congressional Black Caucus to Democrat 2025 political candidates, such as New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, have slammed or campaigned against Trump’s roll-back of DEI policies.
Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives have been the subject of heated opinions of praise and rebuke. (Adobe Stock)
Schilling warned that upcoming elections could undo the progress Trump has made in eliminating DEI policies at the federal level, pointing to the 2028 presidential election.
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«They are lying in wait for the next Democrat president like Gavin Newsom, like JB Pritzker. There’s really no doubt that if another Democrat gets into office, they’re not just going to undo everything President Trump did to curb all the racism through DEI programs. They going to ramp it up. They gonna do it even more so than Barack Obama did and Joe Biden did. So we’ve got to continue to fight this,» Schilling said.
The American Principles Project president continued that ending DEI and woke ideology for good requires conservative Republicans winning elections and conservative voters to talk with their feet with boycotts if a corporation leans into promoting left-wing policies, underscoring DEI is an economic issue, in addition to a cultural one.
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«If we really want to save the future, DEI must be killed, because it’s not just about the culture, it’s just not about racism,» he said. «It’s so much more. It’s the economy, it’s the future of America, it’s our families, it is our children, and so we really need to remain eternally vigilant until it’s obvious that DEI is never coming back.»
donald trump,woke,dei,economy
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