Most Americans no longer live in the world they want – they live in Leonard Leo’s world. You may not know that, because most people have never heard of him. But some political insiders have called him “the most powerful person in America.” So who is this guy? How has he reshaped all of our lives? And what does this tell us about our political system?
Leo’s power comes from his leadership role in the Federalist Society – a once sleepy debating society for conservative law students, but now the most influential institution in the country when it comes to shaping legal decisions and appointing federal judges.
When Trump first came to power in 2016, he knew virtually nothing about who should be appointed to the Supreme Court. So he turned to Leo and told him he needed a list. Leo not only provided the names of Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett – all affiliated with the Federalist Society – but led the campaign to get them approved.
He had also helped to pick or confirm the other three conservative justices: Thomas, Roberts and Alito. So you can see that Ginni Thomas (Justice Thomas’ wife) was not exaggerating when she publicly stated that Leo “has single-handedly changed the face of the judiciary.”
Leo and the Federalist Society are also reshaping the lower federal courts, where most cases are decided. Almost 90% of the appellate judges that Trump appointed in his first term were members of the Federalist Society.
What is disturbing is not simply Leo’s ability to influence who becomes a justice, but also the radically conservative legal and political philosophy that he and the Federalist Society espouse.
Virtually all the controversial decisions made by the current ultra-conservative Court — including the overthrow of Roe v Wade, the enhancement of the role of private money in campaigns, the gutting of the Voting Rights Act, the radical expansion of gun rights, the undermining of environmental laws, the weakening of the separation of church and state, and the granting of immunity to presidents– were developed by the Federalist Society and championed by Leo.
Leo has also been involved in a network of nonprofit organizations, largely funded by dark money from anonymous millionaires, that promotes his political and legal agenda. These include the Rule of Law Trust, Concord Fund, Marble Freedom Trust, and Freedom and Opportunity Fund. The Judicial Crisis Network, run by a disciple of Leo’s, spent $7 million on campaigns to block Obama’s nominee Merrick Garland, and $10 million on promoting Neil Gorsuch, who Trump appointed to the stolen court seat.
So what kind of political system is it that allows one wealthy individual to have so much influence over the policies that affect our everyday lives? Well, it is certainly not a democracy. The correct term is “plutocracy” – rule by the rich. We have a political system that allows the wealthy to turn their money into various forms of political power. One obvious example is our campaign finance system that allows the rich to have outsized influence on who gets elected to office.
A less obvious form of political power bought by the rich is the creation and promotion of the ideas that shape our policies. Think-tanks like the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation are policy idea factories funded by billions of dollars from rich individuals and corporations. They transform right-wing ideology into policy and then relentlessly flog those policies to politicians, judges, and the public. Spokespeople for the Heritage Foundation – the creator of Project 2025 that is serving as the policy playbook for the Trump administration – appeared over 5,000 times on radio and television last year.
Leo has also cleverly taken advantage of another disturbing aspect of our political system: the undemocratic nature of the Supreme Court. He knows that the Court is the final decision maker in a host of key policy areas and that it’s also the branch of government that is least accountable to the public. Once the Court decides, there is virtually nothing the public can do about it. And that’s why we all now live in Leo’s world – like it or not.
Douglas J. Amy is a professor emeritus of politics at Mount Holyoke College. He lives in Northampton.