About Me.

The officers and staff of The Conservative Caucus represent and empower you in Washington and around the country to restore our Constitutional government.

Our Team

Chairman: Peter J. Thomas

Peter J. Thomas was National Field Director of TCC when the Caucus had chapters in most of the nation’s congressional districts. He served as director of communications for Papa Gino’s restaurants, founded and served as President of the Massachusetts Foundation for Economic Research, and was chief of staff to Congressman Peter Torkildsen.

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He was regional administrator of the General Services Administration under President Reagan, worked in the Small Business Administration under President Bush the elder, and was acting assistant secretary for administration in the Department of Agriculture under President Bush the younger.

Vice Chairman: Dr. Steven J. Allen

Dr. Steven J. Allen (J.D., Ph.D.) served as press secretary to U.S. Senator Jeremiah Denton and as senior researcher for Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign. He was a staffer in the 1976 and 1980 Reagan campaigns, was a Reagan delegate in 1976, 1980, and 1984, and served as congressional district co-chairman for Kemp for President.

He is Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Capital Research Center, a Washington, DC think tank. Called a “digital revolutionary” (National Journal) and “the Tea Party’s editor in chief” (The Daily Beast), he has written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Newsday, The Washington Times, The Washington Examiner, The Hill, and American Greatness magazine.

​Secretary: Melissa Ortiz

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Melissa Ortiz is senior advisor to the Able Americans Project at the National Center for Public Policy Research. She was Ms. Wheelchair New York, worked at Tea Party Review magazine, and served as a visiting fellow at the Independent Women's Forum, the top woman-oriented conservative think tank.

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Called “a pro-life advocate for Americans with Disabilities” by the Susan B. Anthony List, she served as commissioner of the Administration on Disabilities at HHS in the Trump administration and was called the administration's “disability czar.”

Donna Jackson

Donna Jackson is director of membership development for Project 21, the national leadership network of African-American conservatives. She served as deputy controller for the Export-Import Bank of the United States, and worked in recruiting and communications for the successful campaigns of Governor Mike Huckabee, Senator Tim Hutchinson, and Congressman (now Governor) Asa Hutchinson.

In the Huckabee administration, she recruited African-American candidates for executive-appointed boards and commissions and helped create job-training programs for community college and the Arkansas Office of Workforce Development. Her articles have appeared in more than 30 news outlets, and she appears frequently on such channels as One America News, Newsmax, PBS, and CNN.

Art Kelly

Art Kelly held senior management positions at the U.S. Department of Education during the Reagan administration. He was vice president for field operations at United Seniors Association, chief of staff to Texas State Senator Walter Mengden, and vice president of CNP Action, an umbrella group of top leaders of conservative organizations. A Vietnam veteran, he served in the U.S. Army as a special agent in military intelligence. He is President Emeritus of the National Press Club Toastmasters in Washington, D.C. 

Executive Director: Art Harman

Mr. Art Harman is TCC's Executive Director. He was the Legislative Director for Congressman Steve Stockman, where he created the successful strategy to kill the 2013 Senate amnesty bill, wrote legislation including a heralded framework for post-Brexit trade relations, outlawing civil asset forfeiture, and halting illegal immigration.

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He learned from the inside how Congress really works, and how to make grassroots lobbying efforts more effective. Mr. Harman produced TCC's long-running, nationally-televised public affairs television program, “Conservative Roundtable,” that reached to 125 channels across the country, and directed major grassroots lobbying and outreach programs. 

TCC Founder: Howard Phillips