DNC Announces New War Room Operation to Take on Trump Administration Arrow

The DNC War Room, led by veteran strategist Tim Hogan, will aggressively scale its rapid response operation, innovate in the media and information ecosystem and build on efforts to hold the Trump administration accountable

Today, the DNC is announcing the launch of a new War Room to expand and streamline the DNC's communications, research, and mobilization operations. The operation will use a "walls down" approach between these departments to take a more aggressive posture with rapid response.

The War Room will incorporate four main pillars: expanding Democrats' reach into new information spaces, modernizing the rapid response operation to drive aggressive daily messaging to counter to the Trump Administration, leveraging creative opposition tactics and an expansive research operation to put Republicans on the back foot in district and in the beltway, and launching a modernized misinformation counterprogramming vertical to combat the lies from the right.

"While Donald Trump continues to push an agenda that raises costs, destroys jobs, and ruins lives, he also continues to lie, spin, and cheat his way out of accountability - and the DNC is doubling down on its efforts to provide the American people with real facts and accurate information about the impact of his policies," said DNC Chair Ken Martin. "The American people deserve to know the truth about what the Trump administration is doing, and we'll be updating people in real time and around the clock with seasoned experts about every facet of his reckless agenda."

"I am proud of the DNC's work over the years in holding MAGA Republicans, including Trump, accountable through our cutting-edge communications, research, and digital strategies," said DNC Executive Director Roger Lau. "Our new War Room will only increase our capacity to make sure Trump, Elon Musk, and MAGA Republicans never get away with pulling the rug out from under the American people. "

Tim Hogan is joining the DNC as a Senior Advisor for Messaging, Mobilization and Strategy. He will build out and oversee war room operations.

"Donald Trump and his cabinet of billionaires are tanking the economy, dismantling public education, driving up costs, attacking Social Security, and gutting health care to line the pockets of their wealthy friends all while MAGA Republicans in Congress cower and hide from their own constituents," said incoming Senior Advisor for Messaging, Mobilization and Strategy Tim Hogan. "The DNC War Room will aggressively scale its rapid response operation, innovate in the modern media and information ecosystem, and build on efforts to hold the Trump administration accountable. The country is in chaos. Americans are not onboard with an agenda that throws them under the bus to benefit the richest people in the world."

Tim Hogan has worked at the intersection of politics and media for 15 years, recently leading editorial and communications strategy for startup news organizations covering politics and policy with a focus on the Midwest. He also recently worked on campaigns and causes across the country through his firm Off Script Media, a strategic partner of Arc Initiatives, where he worked with ballot initiative organizations and on efforts to elect Democrats up and down the ballot.

Previously, Hogan served as Communications Director for Senator Amy Klobuchar's 2020 presidential campaign, helping break through a crowded Democratic field. Before that, he directed campaign communications at The Hub Project, countering the Trump administration's attacks on health care and working people to make the Trump tax cuts for the wealthy one of the most unpopular pieces of modern legislation. In 2016, he was a spokesman for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in the general election, running communications operations in Nevada, Kentucky and Arizona during the primary. Earlier in his career, he worked on Capitol Hill, including for former Congressional Black Caucus Chair Congressman Steven Horsford (NV-04).

With the launch of a new War Room, the DNC will integrate the communications, research, and mobilization departments to drive a cohesive daily message against the Trump Administration and Republicans up and down the ballot, targeting messaging to Americans across information spaces and combatting misinformation from the right. The effort will include:

• At the Grassroots Level: At The People's Town Halls, while Republican Members of Congress refuse to hear from their constituents and neglect their responsibilities as elected officials, the DNC is partnering with state parties and sister committees to host in-district events to hear from the very people Republicans are ignoring - highlighting the stakes of the Trump administration's dangerous agenda and holding them accountable.

• In the Influencer Ecosystem: The DNC is building out a robust influencer engagement operation that taps into trusted voices across the country and across the social media ecosystem, engaging with regional, niche, and politically adjacent grassroots audiences.
  
• Within Conservative and Mixed Media Spaces: The DNC will leverage a deep bench of surrogates to reach beyond traditional audiences, prioritizing efforts to compete in conservative and mixed media spaces, going where important conversations are happening and not just where it's comfortable.
  
• Daily Rapid Response: The DNC will play a central coordinating role in driving a central message of the day across the Democratic ecosystem, expanding its reach beyond traditional messengers to bring more voices to the table to break through to audiences beyond the beltway. The effort will incorporate a range of tactics including regular message briefings, daily talking points, and the dissemination of actionable polling and message testing.

• Combatting Misinformation and Lies: Donald Trump has stacked his administration with unqualified billionaires, Fox News hosts, and conspiracy theorists. On Friday, the DNC launched a People's Cabinet to tap into a deep bench of credentialed and qualified experts, as well as local and community voices with lived experience, to directly counter the lies from the Trump Administration. The DNC will also expand its media monitoring and research operation to ensure that the consequential lies in every appearance, interview or social media post by Trump and his allies are countered in real time.

• Putting Republicans on Defense: The DNC's best-in-class research operation has a deep oppo file on Trump, Musk, Vance, and Republicans up and down the ballot that they will continue to build and deploy through traditional and digital media in order to expose the negative impacts of the MAGA agenda.