When President Donald Trump signed an executive order restricting transgender athletes last year, the White House momentarily put a spotlight on Moms for Liberty co-founder and CEO Tina Descovich, according to an Associated Press report. Descovich later returned to the administration, and she has described her growing access as participation in meetings and policy discussions that touch education, technology and other culture-war priorities.
Descovich said she has been invited into policy conversations across the administration, telling the Associated Press during a recent visit to Washington that Moms for Liberty has a “seat at the table” in discussions where “some of these things are hashed out.” In that interview, she said the group has had a role in conversations about bans on transgender athletes in girls’ sports, AI in education, dismantling the U.S. Department of Education, and efforts to end diversity, equity and inclusion.
The Associated Press reported that Descovich’s access expanded from earlier local politics to federal attention and high-level events. It described her attending the White House after Trump signed the transgender-athletes order, then later sitting at the White House alongside CEOs of Google and IBM to weigh in on artificial intelligence and education policy. It also said she was present when first lady Melania Trump hosted a global technology summit in Washington.
The group’s trajectory, Descovich has framed as grassroots advocacy that moved from school boards to national influence. Moms for Liberty, which began in Florida about five years ago, became known for challenging classroom instruction it deemed inappropriate for children, often involving sex, race or LGBTQ+ themes, according to the Associated Press report. It later turned to state capitals, and it cited its involvement in legislation such as Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law. The report said the group now has more than 300 chapters and describes sharply growing revenue supported by conservative donors and aligned groups.
By some measures, the Associated Press reported that Moms for Liberty’s influence had appeared to be waning before Trump returned to office. School board candidates endorsed by the group struggled in elections, and rival liberal groups gained traction in suburbs. The report also cited ridicule among opponents, including an incident involving an Indiana chapter that quoted Adolf Hitler in a parent newsletter in 2023.
Once Trump took office again, the Associated Press said Moms for Liberty’s fortunes swung upward as the administration moved into the same battles the group had long staked out, including keeping transgender athletes out of girls’ sports. Descovich told the news organization that, by her count, she had been to the White House about a dozen times during the current administration. The report said she also attended when Trump signed an order to overhaul the foster care system and that co-founder Tiffany Justice attended when Trump signed an order to dismantle the Education Department.
Beyond meetings, Descovich said she also has worked as a behind-the-scenes tipster. She told the Associated Press that after meeting with Justice Department officials, she delivered more than 250 complaints to agencies investigating schools over transgender sports and bathroom policies.
As Moms for Liberty seeks influence in Washington, the Associated Press reported that the White House declined to provide specifics about the relationship. In a statement, spokesperson Olivia Wales said the White House is “proud to tout these great accomplishments for American families alongside many leaders,” and cited Trump as “the most pro-family President in history,” pointing to initiatives such as the child tax credit.
On Capitol Hill, the report described the group trying to carry that momentum into national politics. It said that on a recent March morning, more than 100 members fanned out across Capitol Hill delivering homemade cookies to lawmakers and their offices, with some bringing children. The Associated Press also reported that House Speaker Mike Johnson posed for photos with a few parents, and that Sen. Lindsey Graham posted a photo to social media showing himself giving a thumbs-up alongside a Moms for Liberty member.
Members call themselves “joyful warriors,” a slogan the report said critics argue disguises anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and aggressive tactics. The Associated Press reported that the Southern Poverty Law Center labeled the group “extremist” in 2023, and said the group’s founders have led efforts to confront that criticism, including a letter Descovich led urging the federal government to cut ties with the SPLC. The Associated Press also reported that the FBI agreed to do so soon afterward, echoing language from her letter.
Seth Levi, chief program strategy officer for the SPLC, criticized the group’s presence at the White House in comments carried by the Associated Press. He said it was “further evidence that they are more interested in platforming extremist voices and policies rather than listening to the American people,” who he said demand solutions for their daily hardships. Maurice Cunningham, a former political science professor who tracks the group’s ties, said the development represented political advocacy rather than parental input and described Moms for Liberty as closely connected to institutional right-wing organizations such as the Heritage Foundation.
For the Trump administration, an education-policy analyst said Moms for Liberty fills a role often occupied by groups like the National PTA. Rick Hess, director of education policy at the conservative American Enterprise Institute think tank, said establishment groups have been less willing to engage the president, while Moms for Liberty has stepped up. Hess said Moms for Liberty speaks to a “very active part” of the MAGA community and that education has been a focus of the administration for about 15 months, according to the Associated Press report.
Descovich said the relationship with Trump grew from a 2023 convention where Republican presidential candidates sought the group’s endorsement, and the report said Trump told attendees that Moms for Liberty was “the best thing that’s ever happened to America.” Descovich also described bringing the group’s priorities into other policy discussions, including in the area of artificial intelligence, which she said Moms for Liberty views as a threat to parental control. At a White House meeting discussed by the Associated Press, she pushed for guardrails so that humans guide instruction rather than algorithms, and she said the group is preparing its next steps in Congress, including more federal-level lobbying that she said would come next year.