--- title: Welcome to Conservatism's Ground Zero description: The Conservative PAC meeting starts today, with a growing divide between traditional conservatives and the president and his supporters. canonical: https://time.com/4679969/welcome-to-conservatisms-ground-zero/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-23T16:19:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T03:28:38.438Z article:section: Politics og:title: Welcome to Conservatism's Ground Zero og:description: The Conservative PAC meeting starts today, with a growing divide between traditional conservatives and the president and his supporters. og:url: https://time.com/4679969/welcome-to-conservatisms-ground-zero/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Morning Must Reads og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Welcome to Conservatism's Ground Zero twitter:description: The Conservative PAC meeting starts today, with a growing divide between traditional conservatives and the president and his supporters. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Welcome to Conservatism's Ground Zero > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Feb 23, 2017 4:19 PM UTC  The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC. The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC. Mark Wilson—Getty Images by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Feb 23, 2017 4:19 PM UTC The annual Conservative Political Action Conference is kicking off today outside of Washington in an unfamiliar environment for all but the most long-term attendees: the conservative grassroots are in the majority. But the mood is hardly celebratory, as the divide between traditional conservatives and President Trump and his supporters is only expanding. Identity crises are hardly new for CPAC. During the Bush years, the conservative grassroots clashed with the Establishment-dominated White House. During the Obama years, it became Ground Zero for the debates over the nature of Republican opposition, and the party’s struggles to find a new winning majority. It served as the battlefront within the conservative moment debates over same-sex marriage, isolationism, and diversity. Now, facing the rise of the “alt-right” populist/nationalist movement championed by Trump and Breitbart News, traditional conservatism (which is something of an redundancy) is struggling to find a home at CPAC, and within the broader GOP. Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and a host of top White House and Cabinet aides will address the gathering over the next several days, as they seek to rally the base of their movement. But as always the case at CPAC, they’ll be preaching to the converted, rather than trying to expand their flock. Trump’s administration rolled back Obama-era guidance to schools on ensuring access for transgender students to the restrooms of their choice. The White House cast the policy, which was hailed by social conservative groups, as a states’ rights decision. But it reflected a reversal for Trump, who last April suggested that the issue was settled. “Leave it the way it is,” he said at the time. It was also the subject of internal discord within the administration, as Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos was uncomfortable with the decision, but ultimately relented. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin talks tax reform and his new signature. EPA chief’s ties with industry face scrutiny. And Pence visits vandalized Jewish cemetery. _Here are your must reads:_ **Must Reads** [The Conservative Grassroots Faces a Crisis at Its Annual Meetup ](http://time.com/4679396/cpac-donald-trump-conservatives/)TIME’s Alex Altman on the friction between traditional conservatives and the ascendent Trump wing [President Trump Just Rolled Back Guidelines That Protected Transgender Students ](http://time.com/4679063/donald-trump-transgender-bathroom/)TIME’s Katy Steinmetz on the latest developments [David Brock, Donors Wade Into State Fights ](http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/david-brock-democrats-states-235283)Brock pits himself against Obama-backed group \[Politico\] [McMaster May Reorganize Trump’s Foreign Policy Team Once Again ](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/22/us/politics/hr-mcmaster-trump-foreign-policy.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news)New NSC shake-up under consideration \[New York Times\] [Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin Sees Tax Overhaul by August ](https://www.wsj.com/articles/treasury-secretary-steven-mnuchin-pushes-hard-for-stronger-dollar-1487798404)Economic growth at 3% or higher is also among Trump administration’s ambitious goals, he says \[Wall Street Journal\] **Sound Off** “We want to get this done by the August recess. We’ve been working closely with the leadership in the House and the Senate and we’re looking at a combined plan.” — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to CNBC on tax reform “My kids and others have encouraged me to have a new signature, so I’ve been practicing it so it’ll be nice and neat on the money.” — Mnuchin to CNBC **Bits and Bites** [In first month of Trump presidency, State Department has been sidelined](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/in-first-month-of-trump-presidency-state-department-has-been-sidelined/2017/02/22/cc170cd2-f924-11e6-be05-1a3817ac21a5%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fcampaign=newsletter%5Faxiosam&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=newsletter&utm%5Fterm=.f6181f27e359) \[Washington Post\] [Treasury Secretary Mnuchin: We’re committed to ‘very significant’ tax reform by August recess](http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/23/treasury-sec-mnuchin-says-were-committed-to-very-significant-tax-reform-by-august-recess.html) \[CNBC\] [The Pruitt Emails: E.P.A. Chief Was Arm in Arm With Industry](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/22/us/politics/scott-pruitt-environmental-protection-agency.html?%5Fr=0) \[New York Times\] [Undocumented Immigrants Across the U.S. Are Bracing for Trump’s Deportation Crackdown](http://time.com/4679883/immigration-donald-trump-deportations/) \[Associated Press\] [Top U.S. Officials Met With Defiance in Visit to Mexico](https://www.wsj.com/articles/top-u-s-officials-get-chilly-reception-in-mexico-1487811060) \[Wall Street Journal\] [Vice President Mike Pence Visited the Vandalized Jewish Cemetery](http://time.com/4679604/mike-pence-condemns-cemetery-vandalism/) \[Associated Press\] [Here’s the new signature that will be on every dollar in your wallet](http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/23/heres-the-new-signature-that-will-be-on-every-dollar-in-your-wallet.html) \[CNBC\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4679969/welcome-to-conservatisms-ground-zero/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4679969/welcome-to-conservatisms-ground-zero/"},"headline":"Welcome to Conservatism's Ground Zero","datePublished":"2017-02-23T16:19:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:28:38.438Z","description":"Morning Must Reads: February 23","url":"https://time.com/4679969/welcome-to-conservatisms-ground-zero/","keywords":["Morning Must Reads"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zeke Miller","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Morning Must Reads","caption":"Capitol","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4679969/welcome-to-conservatisms-ground-zero/","name":"Welcome to Conservatism's Ground Zero"}}]}] ```