Priorities USA Action was the principal Democratic super PAC of the early post-Citizens United era, serving as the dominant pro-presidential vehicle for Barack Obama in 2012, Hillary Clinton in 2016, and Joe Biden in 2020. The group was founded by Bill Burton and Sean Sweeney, both former senior aides in the Obama administration.
Over its first three presidential cycles, Priorities USA Action raised and spent hundreds of millions of dollars and became, in the words of one analyst, “essentially without peer” among Democratic outside-spending organizations. Its largest historical donors include billionaire investor Donald Sussman, hedge-fund founder James Simons, philanthropists Cheryl and Haim Saban, and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
In 2023, Priorities USA Action announced a dramatic strategic shift: rather than continuing to dominate Democratic television advertising, the group would transition into a digital-first political operation, spending its 2024 cycle budget primarily on online persuasion and mobilization. This shift effectively ceded the role of dominant pro-presidential Democratic super PAC to Future Forward USA, which became the largest super PAC of the 2024 cycle. Priorities USA Action remains active under executive director Danielle Butterfield but in a substantially reduced role compared with its 2012–2020 peak.
Website: prioritiesusa.org · OpenSecrets profile: Searchable as “Priorities USA Action” at OpenSecrets