The Heritage Foundation President Kay Coles James, who has headed the conservative think tank in Washington, D.C., since 2018, announced her resignation in a letter Monday.
RealClearPolitics White House reporter Philip Melanchthon Wegmann first reported that James was stepping down in a Twitter thread that included a letter she sent to friends and family regarding her departure.
Scoop: @Heritage President Kay Coles James will announce her resignation this afternoon.
— Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) March 22, 2021
“I wanted you to be some of the first to know this afternoon I will publicly announce my resignation as president of The Heritage Foundation,” James wrote in part. She went on to recount how she began at the organization in the 1990s as senior fellow and later became a trustee before becoming president. “I have accomplished the goals I set out to achieve when I first became president,” she later said.
Just got the full resignation letter. Read below: pic.twitter.com/Vwsv6jJYkX
— Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) March 22, 2021
In a press release issued later on Monday, confirming James’ resignation effective April 16, as well as that Dr. Kim R. Holmes, the foundation’s executive vice president. James will remain on the board of trustees.
“When we came on board as the executive leadership team three years ago, we set several goals and told Heritage’s board of trustees that we would serve for three to five years to see them through,” the press released quoted James. “We accomplished everything we set out to do. Now it’s time to let someone else take the reins.”
Barb Van Andel-Gaby, chairman of Heritage’s board of trustees, said in part: “I am incredibly grateful to Kay James and Kim Holmes for their leadership of The Heritage Foundation over the past three years. Their tireless dedication to Heritage has taken the organization to new heights, led to numerous accomplishments, and positioned the Heritage team to be ready for the battles ahead. Heritage today is the most important conservative organization in America because of their leadership.”
Big @Heritage news today. Both @KayColesJames and @kimsmithholmes are retiring to make room for new conservative team.
'Kim and I achieved everything we set out to do,' said James. pic.twitter.com/onP0b3ZloZ
— Paul Bedard (@SecretsBedard) March 22, 2021
The Heritage Foundation has served as a major influence in conservative politics and policy making since it was founded in 1973 and recently brought on board former Vice President Mike Pence as a distinguished teaching fellow. The Daily Wire reported:
Former Vice President Mike Pence will be joining The Heritage Foundation as a distinguished visiting fellow, the conservative organization announced Thursday.
“Over the course of the past four years, our team at Heritage has worked closely with members of the Trump administration on a host of policy accomplishments,” said Heritage President Kay C. James in a statement provided to The Daily Wire.
“That’s why I am excited Vice President Mike Pence will join forces with Heritage to ensure we continue to advance conservative principles and policy solutions. His allegiance to the Constitution and commitment to advancing a conservative policy agenda make him an outstanding fit for The Heritage Foundation.”
[…]
Pence looks to The Heritage Foundation as the inspiration that moved him to help create the Indiana Policy Review Foundation (IPR) in 1989, a conservative think tank in his home state that he led as president from 1991 to 1993. During a 2008 speech delivered at Heritage, Pence praised them as the model for IPR, which he described as “the seed corn Heritage Foundation was spreading around the country in the state think tank movement.”
Related: Tucker Carlson Attacks Heritage Foundation. Heritage Foundation Fires Back In Statement.