With Donald Trump returning to the Oval Office, attention is turning back to a controversial plan for his second administration.
Kevin Roberts, president of The Heritage Foundation, speaks at the National Religious Broadcasters convention on Feb. 22, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn.
Now that Donald Trump has won the presidential election, questions are resurfacing about whether his administration would enact a controversial plan known as Project 2025 – a conservative manifesto that would reshape the federal government.
Trump during his campaign made an effort to distance himself from the nearly 900-page “presidential transition” plan, which was crafted by some of his close associates. When pressed on some of its more controversial elements – like the elimination of government agencies, boosting the number of political appointees in government jobs and a vast consolidation of federal authority under the president – Trump said he didn’t know anything about it and disagreed with some of the things it stands for.
But with a decisive win in the presidential election that’s being widely characterized within the Republican Party as a mandate, attention is returning to the ambitious blueprint and Trump’s plans for it.
Here’s a look at Project 2025 and the controversy surrounding it:
What Is Project 2025?
Project 2025 consists of “four pillars that will, collectively, pave the way for an effective conservative administration: a policy agenda, personnel, training, and a 180-day playbook,” according to the website.
A coalition of conservative groups organized by The Heritage Foundation developed the plan to “rescue the country.” It includes policy proposals to reshape the federal government, White House staff and Cabinet recommendations, and plans for every federal agency to overhaul and update their goals.
“With the right conservative policy recommendations and properly vetted and trained personnel to implement them, we will take back our government,” the coalition’s website says.
What Is the Concern About Project 2025?
Part of the plan that has caused the most stir centers around removing employment protections for tens of thousands of federal employees with the effect that they can more easily be fired and replaced with people loyal to the president.
David Richards, head of the political science department at the University of Lynchburg, says the most troubling part of Project 2025 is what it would do to the civil service.
“For well over a hundred years now, the U.S. government has relied on merit-based appointments to the civil service. That is to say, for most jobs in the government, you have to demonstrate you have the skills necessary to do the job,” he says.
Prior to the early 1900s, many government jobs were filled with political appointments, which led to unqualified people doing the work of government, Richards says.
“Putting back political appointments takes us back to the days of rampant corruption and incompetent government. This would lead to an even more dysfunctional government, a government that could not adequately respond to natural disasters or possibly even to foreign threats,” he says. “It would considerably weaken the government’s ability to function in a way that helps Americans and strengthens the country. Political appointments for most government jobs are simply a bad idea that has already been tried in this country and abandoned over a hundred years ago.”
Additionally, Project 2025 advocates for dismantling the Department of Homeland Security, eliminating the Department of Education, a “top-to-bottom overhaul” of the Department of Justice – specifically the FBI – and the restructuring and streamlining of the Environmental Protection Agency, among other changes.
Rep. Jared Huffman formed a task force in June to counter Project 2025. The California Democrat called the playbook an “unprecedented embrace of extremism.”
“Project 2025 is more than an idea, it's a dystopian plot that’s already in motion to dismantle our democratic institutions, abolish checks and balances, chip away at church-state separation, and impose a far-right agenda that infringes on basic liberties and violates public will,” he said in a statement.
Why Is Attention Returning to Project 2025?
The president-elect has sent signals that he may be embracing the spirit, if not the letter, of the manifesto.
To be sure, Trump during the campaign resisted any links to Project 2025 after some of its main tenets drew widespread public attention and threatened to cost him votes from moderates. His campaign advisers insisted at the time that Agenda 47 was Trump’s official platform and plan if he were reelected.
“I know nothing about Project 2025. I have no idea who is behind it,” he said. “I disagree with some of the things they’re saying, and some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal. Anything they do, I wish them luck. But I have nothing to do with them.”
Nevertheless, Trump echoed many of the policy priorities during rallies and campaign appearances. And since then, the president-elect has tapped several people involved with the far-right blueprint to play a role in his administration.
Some of the key players include Russell Vought, who was picked to lead the Office of Management and Budget; Tom Homan, who was chosen for “border czar”; Brendan Carr, who was selected for chairman of the Federal Communications Commission; and John Ratcliffe, Trump's nominee for CIA director.
The appointments have been hailed by many far-right Trump supporters for appearing to validate the Project 2025 agenda, but Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt warned against reading too much into the administration nods.
“President Trump never had anything to do with Project 2025,” she said in a statement. “All of President Trump’s Cabinet nominees and appointments are whole-heartedly committed to President Trump's agenda, not the agenda of outside groups.”
Tags: 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump, politics
