Exclusive: New group plots 2028 "Abundance" agenda
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A nonprofit that's part of the growing center-left "Abundance" movement is assembling a 2028 policy agenda aimed at targeting regulations it believes have hurt Democrats' efforts on health care, housing, energy and more.
Why it matters: The Inclusive Abundance Initiative is among several groups on the left that already are battling over what the next Democratic administration will prioritize, and what people it will hire.
- Pro-Abundance forces have become key players in that fight as they push Democrats to address policies they believe have hurt the party's brand.
- Other left-wing Democrats, meanwhile, see the Abundance movement as a way for big corporations to justify avoiding regulation.
Driving the news: The Inclusive Abundance Initiative — which has a separate political action committee — will commission policy papers this year on subjects such as housing, health care, energy, immigration for highly skilled workers, and family issues.
- "The next two years will be full of debates about how to put the progress back in progressive," said Derek Kaufman, a philanthropist and former executive at J.P. Morgan Chase and Citadel who founded the nonprofit in 2023.
- "But a compelling message isn't enough: Leaders also need a policy plan that won't repeat previous failures."
Kaufman aims to expand the lens of abundance to as many policy areas as possible. So far, much of the debate has been focused on issues such as housing and making it easier to get building permits.
- Nicholas Bagley, former chief legal counsel to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and a professor at Michigan Law School, has signed up to contribute.
Between the lines: There are two big contests unfolding on the left now — the fight over who will be the next Democratic presidential nominee, and the fight over the agenda and personnel for the next Democratic administration.
- Many Biden White House officials believe that although center-left Joe Biden won the Democratic nomination and eventually the White House in 2020, progressives affiliated with leaders such as Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) won the battle over policy and staff during Biden's tenure.
- Some people on the center-left of the party want to avoid that from happening again the next time Democrats take power.
Several groups on the left have emerged during the past year to try to influence the party's future, including Project 2029, a Democratic response to the conservative Heritage Foundation's Project 2025.
- Project 2025 was seen as a liability for President Trump in the 2024 election, and he denied it was a reflection of his agenda.
- But many people who contributed to it are now in powerful positions in his administration, including border czar Tom Homan, FCC chair Brendan Carr and Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought.
- Each has implemented some of Project 2025's proposals.
The intrigue: Some left-wing Democrats argue the Abundance movement is merely corporate-friendly Democrats trying to rebrand themselves.
- Kaufman insists he wants his group's report, called "The Abundance Agenda," to be compelling to both the party's center and its left wing.
- The group's advisory board includes members from the progressive Roosevelt Institute and the more heterodox Searchlight Institute.
- "If you're really a progressive and want the government to improve people's lives," he told Axios, "then you better damn well deliver and not let the government be a source of friction and frustration."
