AFT Dues Funded Left-Wing Infrastructure, From the Center for American Progress to the Clinton Foundation

The American Federation of Teachers doesn’t just spend money directly supporting Democrats; it also funds a network of left-leaning nonprofits that advance Democrat causes.

According to its annual filing with the Department of Labor, the AFT gave $250,000 to the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning public policy organization. It gave $100,000 each to: Emily’s List, a political advocacy group backing women who support abortion; the National Action Network, the Rev. Al Sharpton’s advocacy group; and the American Prospect, a news outlet co-founded by Clinton-era Labor Secretary Robert Reich. The AFT gave $75,000 to the Bill, Hillary, & Chelsea Clinton Foundation and $10,000 to the Human Rights Campaign.

“It is political advocacy by another name,” Michael Watson, research director at the Capital Research Center, told the Daily Signal in an interview Tuesday.

“You’ve got Center for American Progress developing policy—that’s what they do,” Watson said. “Then you’ve got Emily’s List activating women on abortion, because that’s what they do. Then National Action Network, you’ve got the Al Sharpton patronage network and identity politics for African-Americans in New York City.” As for the Clinton Foundation, Watson noted that AFT President Randi Weingarten has had a close relationship with Hillary Clinton, and the AFT became the first major national union to endorse Clinton in the 2016 primary.

“This is what being part of a coalition means,” he added. “It means you go scratch everybody’s back in the hope that when they’re in a position of influence and authority, they can scratch yours.”

Watson noted that contributions to these nonprofits appear in the “contributions, gifts, and grants” section of the Labor Department filing, a section for spending that does not fit in other categories. During the filing period between July 1, 2025, and June 30, 2026, AFT spent $111.7 million on “representational activities” (the traditional activities of a union), $37 million on “political activities and lobbying,” and $5.9 million on “contributions, gifts, and grants.” The filing also disclosed that AFT gave Weingarten $546,158 in total compensation.

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While unions are not allowed to use members’ dues to support campaign efforts supporting political candidates, they can direct dues to “contributions, gifts, and grants.”

A representative for the Center for American Progress said AFT’s contributions went to research and education programs.

“AFT has supported CAP’s research into high-quality career and technical education programs, which provide K-12 students with hands-on experience in fields such as manufacturing, construction, business, and the skilled trades,” the spokesperson told the Daily Signal.

The Daily Signal reached out for comment to the AFT, Emily’s List, the National Action Network, and the Clinton Foundation, but they did not respond.

“AFT’s own filings show how teachers’ dues money is being used as a political war chest to advance the far-left agenda of union bosses,” National Right to Work Committee President Mark Mix told the Daily Signal in a statement.

Mix argued that Americans often overlook “that this spending is fueled by a special privilege no private organization should have: government-granted monopoly bargaining power that requires elected officials to negotiate with union bosses over how public education is run. Until that privilege is ended, teacher union bosses like Randi Weingarten will continue to abuse this extraordinary power to the detriment of students, teachers, and taxpayers.”

Watson argued that the donations reflect labor unions’ broader role in the Left’s politics.

“Organized labor is a load-bearing wall,” he said, describing unions as a key source of funding and support within the broader coalition. “This is big labor writing, from its members’ dues, a six-figure check to Center for American Progress to have its hand in the public policy development process.”

Watson argued that since unions serve a “semi-public function,” their “dues are basically taxes” extracted from workers.

“It is all a blaring example of how unions care more about their political strongholds in leftist ideologies than the teachers and the students they teach,” Julie Collier, a public school teacher in Oklahoma and a founding member of the Teacher Freedom Alliance, told the Daily Signal. “It’s time commonsense teachers, who value the teaching profession, exit their unions.”