Project 2025

"Project '25" redirects here. For the telecommunications standard, see Project 25.
Not to be confused with Donald Trump's package of proposals, Agenda 47.

Project 2025
EstablishedApril 21, 2022; 2 years ago (2022-04-21)[1]
Location
ServicesRecruiting + training loyalists
Director
Paul Dans (until August 2024)
President
Kevin Roberts
PublicationMandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise (2023)
Parent organization
The Heritage Foundation
Budget
$22 million[2]
Websitewww.project2025.org Edit this at Wikidata
This article is part of a series on
Conservatism
in the United States
Schools
Principles
History
Intellectuals
Politicians
Jurists
Commentators
Activists
Literature
Concerns
Parties
Active

Defunct

Think tanks
Media

Newspapers

Journals

TV channels

Websites

Other

Other organizations

Economics

Gun rights

Identity politics

Nativist

Religion

Watchdog groups

Youth/student groups

Miscellaneous

Other

Movements
Related

Project 2025, also known as the 2025 Presidential Transition Project,[3] is a political initiative published by the American conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation in 2023. The project aims to promote conservative and right-wing policies to reshape the federal government of the United States and consolidate executive power after Donald Trump is inaugurated as president in 2025.[4][5][6] Trump has repeatedly denied that he intends to enact Project 2025's policies.[7][8][9][10]

Project 2025 is the ninth iteration of the Mandate for Leadership series, published since 1981. The project asserts a controversial interpretation of the unitary executive theory, according to which the entire executive branch is under the complete control of the U.S. president.[11][12][13] It proposes reclassifying tens of thousands of federal civil service workers as political appointees in order to replace them with people loyal to the president.[14] Proponents of the project argue it would dismantle what they view as a vast, unaccountable, and mostly liberal governmental bureaucracy.[15] The project also seeks to infuse the government and society with conservative Christian values.[16][17] Critics have characterized Project 2025 as an authoritarian, Christian nationalist plan to steer the U.S. toward autocracy.[16][18][19][20] Legal experts have said it would undermine the rule of law,[21] separation of powers,[5] separation of church and state,[22] and civil liberties.[5][21][23]

Project 2025 envisions sweeping changes to economic and social policies and the federal government and its agencies. The plan proposes taking partisan control of the Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Department of Commerce (DOC), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and Federal Trade Commission (FTC), dismantling the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and abolishing the Department of Education (ED), whose programs would be transferred or terminated.[24][25] It calls for making the National Institutes of Health (NIH) less independent, stopping it from funding research with embryonic stem cells, and reducing environmental and climate change regulations to favor fossil fuels.[21][26][27][28] The blueprint seeks to institute tax cuts,[29] but its writers disagree on protectionism.[30] The project seeks to cut Medicare and Medicaid,[31][32] and urges the government to explicitly reject abortion as health care.[33][34] It seeks to eliminate coverage of emergency contraception[31] and use the Comstock Act to prosecute those who send and receive contraceptives and abortion pills.[34][35] It proposes criminalizing pornography and imprisoning those who produce it,[36][37] removing legal protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity,[37][38] and terminating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs[5][38] while having the DOJ prosecute "anti-white racism" instead.[39] The project recommends the arrest, detention, and mass deportation of illegal immigrants living in the U.S.[40][41][42] It proposes deploying the military for domestic law enforcement.[43] It promotes capital punishment and the speedy "finality" of those sentences.[44][45] It hopes to undo "[al]most everything implemented" by the Biden administration.[46]

Although Project 2025 cannot legally promote presidential candidates without endangering its 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, many contributors are associated with Trump and his 2024 presidential campaign.[47][48][49][50] The Heritage Foundation employs many people closely aligned with Trump,[51][52][53] including members of his 2017–2021 administration,[54] and coordinates the initiative with conservative groups run by Trump allies.[16] Some Trump campaign officials have had regular contact with Project 2025, and told Politico in 2023 that the project aligned well with their Agenda 47 program, though they have since said that it does not speak for Trump or his campaign.[15][55][56][57] The project's controversial proposals led Trump and his campaign to distance themselves from it in 2024; Trump said he knew "nothing about it" and that "some of the things [Project 2025 says] are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal".[51][58][59][60] The project's president, Kevin Roberts, said in response that no one at Project 2025 had "hard feelings" for Trump because they knew "he's making a political tactical decision there".[61] Critics dismissed Trump's claims, pointing to the various people close to Trump who helped to draft the project, the many contributors who are expected to be appointed to leadership roles in a future Trump administration, his endorsement of the Heritage Foundation's plans for his administration in 2022, and the 300 times Trump himself is mentioned in the plans.[62][63][64][65]

  1. ^ Restuccia, Andrew (July 12, 2024). "Project 2025 Has a Radical Agenda for Trump. He Has Other Plans". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on July 13, 2024. Retrieved July 27, 2024. The project—which started in April 2022
  2. ^ Swan, Jonathan (December 1, 2023). "Paleoconservative or Moderate? Questions for Staffing the Next G.O.P. White House". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 2, 2023. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference about2025 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Haberman, Savage & Swan 2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference Mascaro-2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Miller, Zeke; Price, Michelle; Weisser, Will; Colvin, Jill. "Trump wins the White House in a political comeback rooted in appeals to frustrated voters". The Associated Press. The Associated Press. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
  7. ^ Vigdor, Neil; Levien, Simon J. (November 6, 2024). "What Is Project 2025, and Why Did Trump Distance Himself From It During the Campaign?". The New York Times. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
  8. ^ Contorno, Steve (July 11, 2024). "Trump claims not to know who is behind Project 2025. A CNN review found at least 140 people who worked for him are involved | CNN Politics". CNN. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
  9. ^ "WATCH: 'I have nothing to do with Project 2025,' Trump says". PBS News. September 10, 2024. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
  10. ^ Hillyard, Vaughn; Marquez, Alexandra (July 11, 2024). "Trump disavows Project 2025, but he has long-standing ties to some key architects". NBC News. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
  11. ^ Khardori, Ankush (August 12, 2024). "JD Vance's 'Constitutional Crisis' in the Making". Politico. Archived from the original on August 15, 2024. Retrieved August 15, 2024. Most provocatively, Vance has suggested in a series of interviews this year that Trump should defy the Supreme Court if the justices invalidated the effort....Despite the objectively dubious legal merits of Schedule F, this Supreme Court might very well sign off on it if Trump is elected and pushes some version of it again in a second administration.
  12. ^ Barrón-López, Laura; Popat, Shrai (July 9, 2024). "A look at the Project 2025 plan to reshape government and Trump's links to its authors". PBS Newshour. Retrieved August 15, 2024. 'And constitutional scholars that I have spoken to have said that the decision, that Supreme Court decision, could strengthen the basis of Project 2025, which is known as the unitary executive theory, which essentially says that the president has total control over the executive branch, over all the federal agencies.'...'Professor Moynihan added, Amna, that ultimately the Supreme Court decision could help any future president justify getting rid of longstanding independence of the Justice Department or other agencies that are known to be independent, that it could allow them to justify totally doing away with that.'
  13. ^ Savage, Charlie (July 4, 2024). "Legal Conservatives' Long Game: Amp Up Presidential Power but Kneecap Federal Agencies". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on August 15, 2024. Retrieved August 15, 2024.
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference biden assails was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ a b Hirsh, Michael (September 19, 2023). "Inside the Next Republican Revolution". Politico. Archived from the original on November 6, 2023. Retrieved November 6, 2023. For Trump personally, of course, this is a live-or-die agenda, and Trump campaign officials acknowledge that it aligns well with their own 'Agenda 47' program.
  16. ^ a b c Ward, Alexander; Przybyla, Heidi (February 20, 2024). "Trump Allies Prepare to Infuse 'Christian Nationalism' in Second Administration". Politico. Archived from the original on February 24, 2024. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  17. ^ Swenson, Ali (July 3, 2024). "A conservative leading the pro-Trump Project 2025 suggests there will be a new American Revolution". Associated Press. Archived from the original on July 12, 2024. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
  18. ^ Corn, David. "It's time to start worrying about Christian nationalism". Mother Jones. Archived from the original on July 22, 2024. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference Washington Post July 12, 2024 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ Carless, Will (July 29, 2024). "Project 2025 decried as racist. Some contributors have trail of racist writings, activity". USA Today. Archived from the original on July 30, 2024. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  21. ^ a b c Stone, Peter (November 22, 2023). "'Openly Authoritarian Campaign': Trump's Threats of Revenge Fuel Alarm". The Guardian. Archived from the original on November 27, 2023. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  22. ^ Ben-Ghiat, Ruth (May 16, 2024). "The Permanent Counterrevolution". The New Republic. Archived from the original on June 7, 2024. Retrieved June 13, 2024.
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference Larson-2024 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  24. ^ Cite error: The named reference Stone-2024 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  25. ^ Cite error: The named reference Schofield-2025 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  26. ^ Ortega, Bob; Lah, Kyung; Gordon, Allison; Black, Nelli (April 27, 2024). "What Trump's war on the 'Deep State' could mean: 'An army of suck-ups'". CNN. Archived from the original on April 28, 2024. Retrieved April 28, 2024. Project 2025's blueprint envisions dismantling the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI; disarming the Environmental Protection Agency by loosening or eliminating emissions and climate-change regulations; eliminating the Departments of Education and Commerce in their entirety.
  27. ^ Lundberg, MD, George (August 12, 2024). "What 'Project 2025' Would Mean for Health and Healthcare". Medscape. Archived from the original on August 20, 2024. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  28. ^ Schumacher, Erin (May 27, 2024). "Biden's got a plan to protect science from Trump". Politico. Archived from the original on June 13, 2024. Retrieved June 5, 2024.
  29. ^ Cite error: The named reference Cranston-2024 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  30. ^ Cite error: The named reference The Economist-2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  31. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Barron-Lopez-2024 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  32. ^ Cite error: The named reference Park-2024 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  33. ^ Miranda, Shauneen (March 2, 2024). "'Department of Life': Trump allies plot abortion crackdown for second term". Axios. Archived from the original on May 1, 2024. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
  34. ^ a b Miranda Ollstein, Alice (January 29, 2024). "The Anti-Abortion Plan Ready for Trump on Day One". Politico. Archived from the original on February 3, 2024. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
  35. ^ Cite error: The named reference Yang-Zahn-March242024 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  36. ^ Cite error: The named reference Dans & Groves 2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  37. ^ a b Pengelly, Martin (September 15, 2023). "US Hard-Right Policy Group Condemned for 'Dehumanising' Anti-LGBTQ+ Rhetoric". The Guardian. Archived from the original on September 15, 2023. Retrieved September 15, 2023.
  38. ^ a b Barrón-López, Laura; Popat, Shrai (March 27, 2024). "How a second Trump presidency could impact the LGBTQ+ community". PBS NewsHour. Archived from the original on June 13, 2024. Retrieved May 5, 2024.
  39. ^ Cite error: The named reference Thompson-May142024 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  40. ^ Cite error: The named reference heritage.org-2024 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  41. ^ Cite error: The named reference Brownstein was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  42. ^ Cite error: The named reference Savage-Haberman-Swan-Nov112023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  43. ^ Cite error: The named reference plot revenge was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  44. ^ Cite error: The named reference Sarat-2024 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  45. ^ Ortega, Bob; Lah, Kyung; Gordon, Allison; Black, Nelli (April 27, 2024). "What Trump's war on the 'Deep State' could mean: 'An army of suck-ups'". CNN. Archived from the original on April 28, 2024. Retrieved April 28, 2024. [Jeffrey] Clark also helped draft portions of the Project 2025 blueprint for a second Trump term, including outlining the use of the Insurrection Act of 1807 to deploy the military for domestic law enforcement, as first reported by the Washington Post.
  46. ^ Logan, Nick (June 27, 2024). "You may hear Project 2025 during the U.S. presidential election campaign. What is that?". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved July 27, 2024. The Heritage Foundation, the influential group behind Project 2025, has laid out sweeping reforms of virtually every aspect of government, including a plan that critics warn will line the public service with employees loyal to a Republican commander-in-chief, as well as providing an ultra-conservative framework for policies. Its stated goal is to undo most everything implemented in the previous four years of U.S. President Joe Biden's administration.
  47. ^ Tait, Robert (July 8, 2024). "Republicans call Trump's move to distance himself from Project 2025 preposterous'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on July 12, 2024. Retrieved July 10, 2024. Of the 38 people involved in the writing and editing of Project 2025, 31 of them were nominated to positions in Trump's administration or transition team – meaning 81% of the document's creators held formal roles in Trump's presidency.
  48. ^ Klawans, Justin (February 26, 2024). "The Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 wants to reshape America under Trump". The Week. Archived from the original on May 15, 2024. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
  49. ^ Doyle, Katherine (November 17, 2023). "Donations Have Surged to Groups Linked to Conservative Project 2025". NBC News. Archived from the original on November 18, 2023. Retrieved November 18, 2023.
  50. ^ Cite error: The named reference CNN review was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  51. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Treene-2024 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  52. ^ "Trump seeks to distance himself from Project 2025, a plan to transform government". KABC-TV. July 8, 2024. Archived from the original on July 9, 2024. Retrieved July 9, 2024. Last week, former President Donald Trump attempted to distance himself from "Project 2025," a sweeping plan to overhaul the federal government proposed by a closely aligned conservative group.
  53. ^ Contorno, Steve (May 15, 2024). "Trump's playboy past is in the spotlight. His allies are readying a new fight against pornography". CNN. Archived from the original on May 21, 2024. Retrieved July 9, 2024. Given Heritage's influence – the organization is full of the former president's staff, and the person leading Project 2025, Paul Dans, is a former Trump administration official who told a recent gathering of religious broadcasters that he expects to return to the White House if Republicans are victorious this fall...
  54. ^ Alfonseca, Kiara. "What is Project 2025? A look at the conservative presidential wish list". ABC News. Archived from the original on July 28, 2024. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  55. ^ Cite error: The named reference Arnsdorf-20240516 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  56. ^ Cite error: The named reference Willacy-2024 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  57. ^ Cite error: The named reference Snopes was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  58. ^ Gleeson, Cailey (July 5, 2024). "Trump Disavows Project 2025: Calls Some Of Conservative Group's Ideas 'Absolutely Ridiculous And Abysmal'". Forbes. Archived from the original on July 9, 2024. Retrieved July 9, 2024. Former President Donald Trump distanced himself on Friday from Project 2025—a controversial package of conservative policy ideas by the Heritage Foundation
  59. ^ Ensor, Josie (July 9, 2024). "Project 2025: Will Trump follow think tank's ultraconservative agenda?". The Times & The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on July 12, 2024. Retrieved July 10, 2024. While Donald Trump has publicly distanced himself from it
  60. ^ Bahari, Sarah (July 9, 2024). "What is the Heritage Foundation, the think tank behind Project 2025?". The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on July 11, 2024. Retrieved July 10, 2024. Trump, meanwhile, has publicly distanced himself from the plan.
  61. ^ "Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts: "The overlap is tremendous" between Trump's campaign platform and Project 2025". Media Matters. July 11, 2024. Archived from the original on September 11, 2024. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
  62. ^ Dent, Alec (July 10, 2024). "Trump 2024 vs. Project 2025". Intelligencer. Archived from the original on July 12, 2024. Retrieved July 10, 2024. Of the 37 authors of the project's core agenda, 27 came from Trump's orbit...'It's totally false he doesn't know what P25 is,' one former senior adviser said of Trump's remarks. 'Privately, he is of course talking to Heritage, and [Heritage president] Kevin Roberts has reportedly even met with Trump on P25.'...There is a good chance, though, that he will use at least the project's list of loyalists to staff a second administration.
  63. ^ Cite error: The named reference Smith-2024 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  64. ^ Bump, Philip (June 18, 2024). "Trump has unveiled an agenda of his own. He just doesn't mention it much". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 28, 2024. Retrieved June 25, 2024. The most detailed articulation of what a second Trump term would look like was cobbled together by the right-wing Heritage Foundation. Called 'Project 2025,' it is a book-length presentation of a sweeping overhaul of government and governance. It is also, in the current view of the Trump campaign, an annoyance: It gives Trump's opponents something to point to and elevate to voters as unacceptable, even though it isn't actually offered by Trump himself.
  65. ^ Cite error: The named reference Durkee was invoked but never defined (see the help page).