Jim DeMint officially ousted from Heritage Foundation

Jim DeMint has been ousted as president and CEO of the conservative Heritage Foundation.

In a statement published on the organization’s website, Thomas A. Saunders III, chairman of The Heritage Foundation’s Board of Trustees, said that “by a unanimous vote,” the board asked for and received DeMint’s resignation. He said that the board elected Ed Feulner, founder of the Heritage Foundation, to serve as president and CEO while the organization searches for a replacement.

“After a comprehensive and independent review of the entire Heritage organization, the board determined there were significant and worsening management issues that led to a breakdown of internal communications and cooperation. While the organization has seen many successes, Jim DeMint and a handful of his closest advisers failed to resolve these problems,” Saunders said.

Saunders called the decision “difficult and necessary.”

“Heritage has never been about one individual, but rather the power of conservative ideas. Heritage is bigger than any one person,” he noted.

DeMint, a former senator from South Carolina, resigned from the Senate in 2013 to lead the think tank.

In recent days, speculation has grown about DeMint’s position at the think tank, but Heritage did not issue a public statement until DeMint’s resignation was official. In various reports, staffers have pointed to a breakdown in communication between DeMint and Mike Needham, CEO of Heritage Action for America, the organization’s lobbying arm.

Editor’s note: The author of this story once worked for The Daily Signal, the news organization of The Heritage Foundation.