Meet the Speakers

Fireside Conversation

Howard Lutnick

Howard W. Lutnick is the 41st U.S. Secretary of Commerce and served as Co-Chair of the Trump-Vance Transition Team during President Trump’s 2024 campaign. Before public service, he spent over three decades on Wall Street as Chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P. and BGC Group, and Executive Chairman of Newmark. He joined Cantor Fitzgerald in 1983 and became President and CEO at age 29.

After the 9/11 attacks, which killed 658 of Cantor’s 960 New York employees—including his brother and best friend—Lutnick led the firm’s rebuilding and founded the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund, donating $180 million to victims’ families. He has contributed over $100 million to global victims of terrorism, disasters, and other emergencies.

Lutnick has served on the boards of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum and Weill Cornell Medicine. His honors include Financial Times Person of the Year (2001), Ernst & Young U.S. Entrepreneur of the Year (2010), and the Department of the Navy’s Distinguished Public Service Award.

Dylan Housman

Dylan Housman is the Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Caller. He joined the Caller in 2020 as a reporter covering the COVID-19 pandemic before becoming Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, and eventually Deputy Editor.

Executive Fireside Conversation

Kevin Keane

As president and CEO of the American Beverage Association, Keane leads the trade group representing the non-alcoholic beverage industry, which supports over 275,000 U.S. jobs and contributes nearly $324 billion to the economy.

Previously, he served as assistant secretary for public affairs at HHS under President George W. Bush and held senior roles with Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson. A former journalist, Keane is a Chicago native and University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire graduate. He lives in Virginia with his wife and has three adult children.

Elijah Moorman

Elijah Moorman is the CEO of the Daily Caller. He joined the company in 2021 as Vice President of Marketing and brings a diverse background in marketing across multiple sectors. He holds a Liberal Arts degree from Thomas More College in New Hampshire and lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife and three young children.

Panel 1: The Job Boom Behind American Made

Senator Ron Johnson

Ron Johnson, a former manufacturing executive from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010 and re-elected in 2022. He previously chaired the Homeland Security Committee (2015–2021) and now serves as Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Investigations, as well as a member of the Budget and Finance committees. He lives in Oshkosh with his wife, Jane; they have three children and four grandchildren.

Grover Norquist

Grover Norquist is president of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), a group he founded in 1985 at President Reagan’s request to advocate for limited government and lower taxes. ATR promotes taxing consumed income once at a single rate and leads the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, signed by hundreds of federal and state lawmakers.

Norquist also chairs the influential Wednesday Meeting, a weekly gathering of conservative leaders in D.C., now replicated in 45 states.

Kevin Keane

As president and CEO of the American Beverage Association, Keane leads the trade group representing the non-alcoholic beverage industry, which supports over 275,000 U.S. jobs and contributes nearly $324 billion to the economy.

Previously, he served as assistant secretary for public affairs at HHS under President George W. Bush and held senior roles with Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson. A former journalist, Keane is a Chicago native and University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire graduate. He lives in Virginia with his wife and has three adult children.

Reagan Reese

Reagan Reese is the White House Correspondent for the Daily Caller. She previously covered education for the Daily Caller News Foundation and holds a degree in Rhetoric from Hillsdale College, where she played softball. She now plays outfield for the Caller’s softball team.

Panel 2: The Economic Ripple of American Made

Phil Kerpen

Phil Kerpen is president of Unleash Prosperity and American Commitment, two organizations focused on advancing free markets, limited government, and economic growth. He previously held policy roles at Americans for Prosperity, the Free Enterprise Fund, Club for Growth, and the Cato Institute.

A Brooklyn native, he lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife and four children.

Jonathan Williams

Jonathan Williams became President of ALEC in January 2025 and continues as Chief Economist, a position he has held since 2017. He leads ALEC’s policy team, serves as chief economic strategist, and represents the organization in national media alongside CEO Lisa Nelson.

Williams founded the ALEC Center for State Fiscal Reform in 2011 and co-authors Rich States, Poor States with Dr. Arthur Laffer and Stephen Moore. Previously, he was a staff economist at the Tax Foundation, where he published major tax policy studies.

His work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and The Financial Times, and he contributes to The Hill and Tax Analysts. He has testified before Congress and state legislatures, and his research has been cited by the White House and the Joint Economic Committee.

Recognized as an expert on federalism, taxation, and state economic policy, Williams has appeared on PBS NewsHour, Fox Business, and Bloomberg News. He serves on the State Financial Officers Foundation Advisory Board and received the Ludwig von Mises Award in Economics.

Amber Duke

Amber Duke is Senior Editor at the Daily Caller and co-host of The Hill’s Rising and Reason's Free Media. She is the author of The Snowflakes’ Revolt: How Woke Millennials Hijacked American Media and was the 2019–20 Tony Blankley Fellow. Amber previously served as Washington Editor of The Spectator, White House Correspondent for the Daily Caller, and a reporter for Campus Reform. She holds a B.A. in Government and Economics from Georgetown University.
Welcome to

American Jobs, 
American Strength

Presented by
Meet the Speakers
Fireside Conversation

Howard Lutnick

Howard W. Lutnick is the 41st U.S. Secretary of Commerce and served as Co-Chair of the Trump-Vance Transition Team during President Trump’s 2024 campaign. Before public service, he spent over three decades on Wall Street as Chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P. and BGC Group, and Executive Chairman of Newmark. He joined Cantor Fitzgerald in 1983 and became President and CEO at age 29.

After the 9/11 attacks, which killed 658 of Cantor’s 960 New York employees—including his brother and best friend—Lutnick led the firm’s rebuilding and founded the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund, donating $180 million to victims’ families. He has contributed over $100 million to global victims of terrorism, disasters, and other emergencies.

Lutnick has served on the boards of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum and Weill Cornell Medicine. His honors include Financial Times Person of the Year (2001), Ernst & Young U.S. Entrepreneur of the Year (2010), and the Department of the Navy’s Distinguished Public Service Award.

Dylan Housman

Dylan Housman is the Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Caller. He joined the Caller in 2020 as a reporter covering the COVID-19 pandemic before becoming Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, and eventually Deputy Editor.
Executive Fireside Conversation

Kevin Keane

As president and CEO of the American Beverage Association, Keane leads the trade group representing the non-alcoholic beverage industry, which supports over 275,000 U.S. jobs and contributes nearly $324 billion to the economy.

Previously, he served as assistant secretary for public affairs at HHS under President George W. Bush and held senior roles with Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson. A former journalist, Keane is a Chicago native and University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire graduate. He lives in Virginia with his wife and has three adult children.

Elijah Moorman

Elijah Moorman is the CEO of the Daily Caller. He joined the company in 2021 as Vice President of Marketing and brings a diverse background in marketing across multiple sectors. He holds a Liberal Arts degree from Thomas More College in New Hampshire and lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife and three young children.
Panel 1:
The Job Boom Behind American Made

Senator Ron Johnson

Ron Johnson, a former manufacturing executive from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010 and re-elected in 2022. He previously chaired the Homeland Security Committee (2015–2021) and now serves as Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Investigations, as well as a member of the Budget and Finance committees. He lives in Oshkosh with his wife, Jane; they have three children and four grandchildren.

Grover Norquist

Grover Norquist is president of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), a group he founded in 1985 at President Reagan’s request to advocate for limited government and lower taxes. ATR promotes taxing consumed income once at a single rate and leads the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, signed by hundreds of federal and state lawmakers.

Norquist also chairs the influential Wednesday Meeting, a weekly gathering of conservative leaders in D.C., now replicated in 45 states.

Kevin Keane

As president and CEO of the American Beverage Association, Keane leads the trade group representing the non-alcoholic beverage industry, which supports over 275,000 U.S. jobs and contributes nearly $324 billion to the economy.

Previously, he served as assistant secretary for public affairs at HHS under President George W. Bush and held senior roles with Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson. A former journalist, Keane is a Chicago native and University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire graduate. He lives in Virginia with his wife and has three adult children.

Reagan Reese

Reagan Reese is the White House Correspondent for the Daily Caller. She previously covered education for the Daily Caller News Foundation and holds a degree in Rhetoric from Hillsdale College, where she played softball. She now plays outfield for the Caller’s softball team.
Panel 2:
The Economic Ripple of American Made

Phil Kerpen

Phil Kerpen is president of Unleash Prosperity and American Commitment, two organizations focused on advancing free markets, limited government, and economic growth. He previously held policy roles at Americans for Prosperity, the Free Enterprise Fund, Club for Growth, and the Cato Institute.

A Brooklyn native, he lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife and four children.

Jonathan Williams

Jonathan Williams became President of ALEC in January 2025 and continues as Chief Economist, a position he has held since 2017. He leads ALEC’s policy team, serves as chief economic strategist, and represents the organization in national media alongside CEO Lisa Nelson.

Williams founded the ALEC Center for State Fiscal Reform in 2011 and co-authors Rich States, Poor States with Dr. Arthur Laffer and Stephen Moore. Previously, he was a staff economist at the Tax Foundation, where he published major tax policy studies.

His work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and The Financial Times, and he contributes to The Hill and Tax Analysts. He has testified before Congress and state legislatures, and his research has been cited by the White House and the Joint Economic Committee.

Recognized as an expert on federalism, taxation, and state economic policy, Williams has appeared on PBS NewsHour, Fox Business, and Bloomberg News. He serves on the State Financial Officers Foundation Advisory Board and received the Ludwig von Mises Award in Economics.

Amber Duke

Amber Duke is Senior Editor at the Daily Caller and co-host of The Hill’s Rising and Reason's Free Media. She is the author of The Snowflakes’ Revolt: How Woke Millennials Hijacked American Media and was the 2019–20 Tony Blankley Fellow. Amber previously served as Washington Editor of The Spectator, White House Correspondent for the Daily Caller, and a reporter for Campus Reform. She holds a B.A. in Government and Economics from Georgetown University.