The Cicero Institute, started by Palantir co-founder and billionaire venture capitalist Joe Lonsdale, has emerged as one of the most influential forces in the Trump administration’s push to criminalize homelessness.
The think tank presents itself as sharing bold policy prescriptions in areas of homelessness, public safety, and healthcare—but at the federal level, the nonprofit’s only lobbying activity is conducted under another name and could benefit Lonsdale’s investments in defense contractors, including Palantir, Saronic, Epirus, and Anduril.
The Cicero Institute paid more than $11.4 million from 2021 through 2024 to Arpinum, a company controlled by Lonsdale, for services and reimbursements, according to a Sludge review of tax returns. Arpinum, which is named as a related organization in Cicero’s IRS disclosures, is led by several of the Cicero Institute’s directors and was the employer of Cicero’s executive director as of 2024. Lonsdale is the sole member of the 501(c)3 Cicero Research and 501(c)4 Cicero Action nonprofits, giving him the power to elect and remove their boards.
At the same time, Cicero Action has quietly lobbied Congress and the Pentagon on defense spending and military procurement under the name American Phalanx, according to lobbying disclosures flagged in a research memo from the National Homelessness Law Center (NHLC). Its federal lobbying is conducted through the defense-focused firm Anchor & Arrow, which also represents Palantir and many companies backed by Lonsdale’s venture capital firm, 8VC. According to Virginia business records, Anchor & Arrow is another name for Arpinum.
In a January 2025 essay calling for an overhaul of Pentagon acquisition rules, Lonsdale pointed to companies he founded or invested in, including Palantir and Anduril, in arguing that federal procurement favors traditional defense contractors and blocks newer defense technology companies from growing. “But they need allies in the government,” Lonsdale wrote. The essay was co-written with John Noonan, an Anchor & Arrow lobbyist who Lonsdale described as helping defense companies navigate the federal bureaucracy. With Anchor & Arrow, Noonan lobbies for Palantir on “Issues related to defense acquisition reform and defense innovation,” according to disclosures, and Anduril has also called for the Pentagon to award more prime contracts to software and technology companies, shifting away from “cost plus fixed fee” awards.
“The Cicero Institute is the nexus for the rampant increase in anti-homeless laws that we've seen in cities and states, and now the federal government, during the second Trump administration's term,” said Jesse Rabinowitz, communications director of NHLC. He warns that Lonsdale’s financial interests aren’t confined to federal defense contracts—Cicero’s campaign to criminalize homelessness could also drive demand for surveillance and private security companies among 8VC investments, such as the location-based Citizen app. “Joe Lonsdale and his venture capital firm stand to profit off of the very laws of their passing,” Rabinowitz said.
The Cicero Institute did not respond to requests for comment on defense lobbying under its d.b.a. American Phalanx, or inquiries into its lobbying spending and payments to Arpinum.
Cicero’s signature policy of criminalizing outdoor sleeping helped form the blueprint for President Trump’s July 2025 executive order on homelessness, which directed federal agencies to prioritize funding for states and cities that enforce bans on public camping and move away from the approach known as Housing First. The laws make public camping a crime, even in areas where shelter beds are not an option, and punish cities and localities if the ban is not enforced.
Facts Only
* Joe Lonsdale is the co-founder of Palantir and a venture capitalist at 8VC.
* The Cicero Institute consists of 501(c)3 (Cicero Research) and 501(c)4 (Cicero Action) nonprofits.
* Lonsdale is the sole member of both Cicero nonprofits.
* The Cicero Institute paid over $11.4 million to Arpinum between 2021 and 2024.
* Arpinum is led by several Cicero Institute directors and employed Cicero's executive director as of 2024.
* Cicero Action conducts federal lobbying under the name American Phalanx.
* Anchor & Arrow is a lobbying firm that represents Palantir and is another name for Arpinum.
* John Noonan is a lobbyist for Anchor & Arrow and co-authored a January 2025 essay with Lonsdale on Pentagon acquisition rules.
* President Trump issued an executive order in July 2025 prioritizing funding for cities that enforce bans on public camping.
* The National Homelessness Law Center (NHLC) is a critic of the Cicero Institute's policies.
Executive Summary
The Cicero Institute, founded by Joe Lonsdale, is actively influencing federal homelessness policy and defense procurement. The organization advocates for the criminalization of outdoor sleeping, a position reflected in a July 2025 executive order that shifts federal funding away from "Housing First" models toward the enforcement of public camping bans.
Simultaneously, the organization operates a defense lobbying arm under the name American Phalanx, utilizing the firm Anchor & Arrow (also known as Arpinum) to advocate for Pentagon acquisition reforms. These reforms aim to increase prime contracts for newer technology firms, including companies Lonsdale has founded or invested in, such as Palantir and Anduril.
Critics, including the National Homelessness Law Center, argue that this creates a conflict of interest where policy prescriptions on public safety and homelessness could increase demand for private security and surveillance tools produced by Lonsdale's venture capital investments. The Cicero Institute has not responded to inquiries regarding its financial transfers to Arpinum or its dual-track lobbying activities.
Full Take
The strongest version of this narrative describes a vertically integrated influence operation where a single actor leverages nonprofit status to shape federal law in ways that directly benefit his private equity portfolio. By controlling the think tank (policy), the lobbying firm (access), and the vendors (product), the actor creates a closed-loop system of "problem-solution" engineering.
The narrative relies on a pattern of juxtaposition: placing the criminalization of the impoverished alongside the procurement of high-tech weaponry. This framing suggests a systemic synergy between the "carceral state" and the "surveillance state." While the link between camping bans and the Citizen app is presented as a logical extension, it remains a prospective correlation rather than a documented contractual certainty.
Patterns detected: none
The root cause is the "Founder-Philosopher" paradigm, where venture capitalists attempt to apply "disruption" to governance. The unstated assumption is that the efficiency of the private sector should dictate the ethics of public administration. This echoes the historical pattern of the military-industrial complex, updated for the era of software-as-a-service and "smart city" surveillance.
The implication is a potential erosion of the boundary between public policy and private profit. If the state criminalizes a social condition to create a market for private surveillance, human dignity is subordinated to shareholder value.
Bridge Questions:
1. Does the advocacy for defense acquisition reform provide a benefit to the broader industry, or specifically to the firms mentioned?
2. What evidence exists to link the enforcement of camping bans to increased revenue for specific 8VC-backed companies?
3. How would the policy outcomes differ if the proponents had no financial stake in the resulting security infrastructure?
Counterstrike Scan: A coordinated attack would use "follow the money" rhetoric to paint a picture of a shadow government, utilizing leaked tax documents to imply a conspiracy. While this content tracks those financial links, it maintains a journalistic tone and attributes its most aggressive claims to a named critic (NHLC) rather than presenting them as absolute truths. The content is clean.