Dec 17, 2025
CAP’s Path Forward Series: A Year-End Review

As 2025 comes to a close, the Center for American Progress is taking a look back at the bold ideas and visions proposed by the speakers in our flagship event series, “What’s Next? Conversations on the Path Forward.” From healing our democracy to healing our souls, speakers all brought new ideas and angles to the problems facing all Americans.

• Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) kicked off the series in March, discussing the need to build an economy that works for everyone and the importance of not giving in to those who seek to divide us.
• Fresh from his trip to El Salvador to ensure the safety of Marylander Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) outlined how critical due process is and how we must not allow the government to run roughshod over our civil rights.
• Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) shared his worry about how the Trump administration has undermined America’s strength in the world, and presented an alternative vision for American security and prosperity.
• Acknowledging that breaking through the noise to actually lead is getting harder and harder, Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) highlighted how critical it is that we not only lead but also listen to those who feel left behind by their federal government.
• The Trump administration’s attacks on our system of checks and balances must not be allowed to go unopposed, and it is often Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) at the forefront of that opposition, pushing for critically important reforms that would build a stronger and more accountable democracy.
• Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) sees the need to build, as he puts it, a “new economic patriotism,” with FDR-inspired investments in the care economy, manufacturing, and education.
• NASA astronaut turned Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly (D) sees the attacks on science and research as detrimental to our identity as innovators, putting us behind the ball in industries such as artificial intelligence and energy development.
• Leading the same congregation once led by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Georgia’s Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) sees America’s spiritual crisis and aims to heal hearts, minds, and souls as we heal America.