Real answers
Conference attendees discuss promise of Freedom Conservatism
The hundreds of activists, scholars, journalists, and policy professionals who attended the inaugural Freedom Conservatism Conference on February 24 in Washington keep telling us how much they enjoyed it and are looking forward to more such forums.
FreeCon signatory Vance Ginn, former associate director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, called it “an energizing event with insightful conversations” and said “the strong advocates for pro-growth policies and champions of human flourishing were truly inspiring.”
“Amazing sessions!” raved marketing guru Mollie Johnson. “Really enjoyed the emphasis on communicating the ideals of freedom when there is so much confusion on both sides of the political spectrum.”
Today we feature some initial media coverage of FreeCon 2025. In future posts, we’ll summarize more articles about the conference — both those praising the event and the broader FreeCon project as well as those offering more critical views.
Moral dimension
Jack Butler is a FreeCon signatory and submissions editor at National Review. After attending FreeCon 2025, he wrote that the conference “dispelled my initial doubts about this project.”
In his NRO essay, Butler argued that the speakers articulated not only what Freedom Conservatism is against but what it is for — beginning with freedom, of course, but also encompassing family formation, federalism, the rule of law, and a robust civil society that reflects the “moral dimension” of human flourishing.
“Our constitutional architecture does not just leave space for the practice of religion,” he wrote, “it depends on such practice, and draws from America’s heritage thereof.”
Butler praised the extent to which the event showed FreeCons engaging directly with current political issues and opportunities.
“The attack on the bloated, centralized state that has marked the early portion of the second Trump administration is eminently compatible with, and enthusiastically cheered on by, Freedom Conservatism,” he wrote.
“As is the possibility of a serious strengthening of state and local governments. It was refreshing to hear Tony Woodlief, of the State Policy Network, state in a discussion of how best to restore federalism that ‘it’s possible states and localities actually do things better than the federal government.’
“FreeCons,” said Butler, “have a real answer to discontent about the size and scope of the state.”
What comes next? He urged Freedom Conservatives to cultivate political champions for their cause and to build consensus on thorny issues such as immigration and foreign policy.
“To trust the American people requires being inspired by them, and to inspire them in turn, for the sake of the noble yet difficult task of self-government,” he concluded. “This demands not just political suasion but moral exhortation.”
Not personality-driven
Nathan Worcester, national politics reporter for The Epoch Times, covered FreeCon 2025 in the context of two other Washington-area events staged a few days earlier: the MAGA-themed CPAC and the anti-MAGA Principles First.
Worcester pointed to the Freedom Conservatism Statement of Principles, which states that individual liberty is under attack from “more and more people on the left and right.”
“It advocates continued American leadership of the world,” he wrote, “and it describes immigration as ‘a principal driver of American prosperity and achievement’ while affirming the country’s right to defend its borders and maintain an immigration system tied to ‘the interests and values of American citizens.’”
These themes, explored in some detail by FreeCon panelists, helped distinguish the event from its predecessors.
The Freedom Conservatism Conference “ended up somewhere in between CPAC and Principles First,” he concluded, “neither an anti-Trump shindig nor a celebration of the new U.S. president.”
FreeCon 2025 speaker Carrie Sheffield told Worcester the events offered a helpful range of visions and paths for American conservatives.
“I think it’s great to like an array of flavors,” said Sheffield, senior policy analyst at the Independent Women’s Forum. “Iron sharpens iron, and that’s how we get the best ideas.”
In the mix
• At The Daily Economy, FreeCon signatory Iain Murray analyzed the Department of Government Efficiency’s war against the administrative state.
“The speed and ferocity with which DOGE began its mission was like the vaunted ‘shock and awe’ campaign at the beginning of the Iraq War,” wrote Murray, vice president for strategy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
But much more will be required.
“Congress will have to follow through and repeal laws, or future presidents will just reinstate regulatory programs. The dark matter of ‘guidance’ will have to be brought under control. A new vision for the shape and nature of the federal civil service will have to be developed and agreed upon.
“Yet thanks to DOGE, for the first time, there is light at the end of the tunnel.”
• In USA Today, FreeCon signatory Vincent Vernuccio related the efforts of labor unions to block federal employees from accepting the Trump administration’s buyout offer.
“Imagine you’re a 60-something federal worker who long planned for your career to end soon,” wrote Vernuccio, president of the Institute for the American Worker. “Why not take the buyout and retire early, with eight months' worth of extra cash?”
Or “imagine you’re a 30- or 40-something government employee who’s looking for a career change. Getting eight months’ salary is the cushion you need to go out and find a better job, giving you financial security while you search. But the unions tried to stop you, too.”
“This is only the latest reason to question how well federal collective bargaining works for federal employees.”
• At Law & Liberty, FreeCon signatory James Capretta argued that for Congress to make any meaningful progress toward fiscal balance, it will have to change the way it budgets.
“After years of neglect, the U.S. does not have much time for further procrastination,” wrote Capretta, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who has served as associate director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget as well as a budget analyst on Capitol Hill.
“Staying on the current trajectory will steadily reduce the U.S. economy’s strength and resilience. Those who are committed to avoiding such self-inflicted harm should be prepared to act decisively when the political window opens, as it will at some point, to break from current trends.”