Democrats and progressive activists constantly warn Americans about the supposedly dangerous influence of organizations such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Whenever a pro-Israel candidate wins a primary or a critic of Israel loses one, the Left immediately blames AIPAC, portraying political donations as evidence that American democracy has been corrupted.

Yet those same activists rarely show similar concern when left-wing billionaires pour billions of dollars into the institutions that shape Americans’ beliefs long before they ever enter a voting booth.

According to a new analysis, the Gates Foundation has directed more than $9 billion to hundreds of American colleges and universities since 2010. The grants have supported broadly labeled initiatives such as “family planning,” “global health solutions,” and “global development.” The recipients include some of the most powerful and influential universities in the country.

That influence deserves far more scrutiny than another political action committee donating money during an election.

Campaign donations are relatively transparent. Voters can see which candidates receive support, evaluate their positions, and ultimately reject them at the ballot box. Universities, media organizations, research institutions, and nonprofit networks operate differently. They influence how Americans understand the world while presenting themselves as neutral sources of knowledge and expertise.

When wealthy progressive donors shape these institutions, their influence can last for generations.

The University of Washington has reportedly received more than $1.3 billion from the Gates Foundation since 2010. Johns Hopkins University received approximately $792 million, while Harvard University received roughly $391 million.

At Harvard, Gates Foundation funding included $30 million for Opportunity Insights, a research institute that examines economic mobility and racial disparities.

Money does not need to come with an explicit order to influence an institution. Universities understand which projects attract funding and which ideological frameworks are rewarded. Departments, researchers, and administrators naturally adapt to those incentives.

The result is an institutional ecosystem in which progressive priorities are repeatedly subsidized, researched, promoted, and eventually treated as settled fact.

The Gates Foundation is not alone either. George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, the Ford Foundation, and other major progressive grant-making organizations have directed hundreds of millions of dollars toward universities, advocacy groups, and policy institutes. That funding helps construct the intellectual foundation for policies involving race, gender, climate, abortion, immigration, and sexuality.

This is far more consequential than supporting a candidate for Congress.

A campaign contribution may influence one election. A grant to a university can influence professors, researchers, students, journalists, government officials, and future political leaders. The influence spreads while maintaining the appearance of neutrality.

That is the institutional power the Left has spent decades building. It extends throughout the media, nonprofit sector, entertainment industry, philanthropy, and government bureaucracy — institutions that determine which ideas are respectable and which are dismissed as dangerous.

Progressives complain about AIPAC because its political involvement is visible and because it frequently supports causes they oppose. But they remain largely silent when billionaire-funded foundations advance their own ideology through institutions that Americans are taught to trust.

Americans should scrutinize all major sources of political influence. But there is a fundamental difference between openly supporting a candidate and quietly shaping the institutions responsible for forming the country’s long-term beliefs.