Project 2025 is a conservative political initiative spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation, a prominent conservative think tank that supports conservative candidates for government and cabinet positions.
It was launched as a blueprint for reshaping the U.S. government and its policies, in preparation for the election of the nation’s next Republican president. With Donald Trump vying to re-enter office as the Republican Party’s candidate, the initiative has sparked great debate and concern.
What is Project 2025?
Created in 2021, Project 2025 was formulated by the Heritage Foundation, a nonprofit public policy research institute founded in 1973 to formulate and promote policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional values and a strong national defense.
The detailed, 900-page “Mandate for Leadership” was conceived as a long-term project with contributions from various individuals and organizations, to make sweeping changes within the federal government with the goal of implementing conservative policies.
These changes involve dismantling specific regulatory agencies. They reduce the power of career civil servants by converting many positions into political appointments and enforcing policies aligned with conservative Christian values. The initiative envisions significant alterations in immigration, environmental regulations, healthcare and education.
One month after the plan was officially released online in February 2023, an online database of interested conservatives was created to train future government workers who wish to champion conservative values while in prominent positions.
Critics, including civil rights organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), argue that the plan would result in an erosion of civil liberties including reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ protections and racial equity initiatives. Some also see it as an attempt to consolidate executive power to an unprecedented degree, raising concerns about authoritarianism.
What is Trump’s Connection?
Though it is theoretically associated with the political agenda of Trump’s party, the project is not officially tied to him. Still, it is widely assumed by the opposing Democratic Party to be a blueprint for the 45th U.S. President’s second administration.
When questioned about Project 2025, Trump immediately distanced himself from the initiative, stating that its authors are part of the far-right. “I’m not an extremist at all,” he added, further disavowing its contents.
Widespread fear surrounding the initiative’s harmful potential is fueled by connections between key figures of the project and his administration.
Paul Dans helped shape the structure and vision of the plan as the former Project 2025 Director after serving as chief of staff of the Office of Personnel Management under Trump.
Kevin Roberts, the current Heritage Foundation President, is working to strengthen the project’s ties to Republican leadership, while advocating for a total restructuring of the federal government to increase the president’s power. Media reports have linked Trump to Roberts during a 2022 private flight to the Heritage conference, where the former president delivered a keynote address.
Spencer Chretien, associate director of the Heritage Foundation’s 2025 Presidential Transition Project, is working on training future appointees for the Presidential Administration Academy. During Trump’s administration, he served as special assistant to the president and associate director of presidential personnel. He also worked in the office of Secretary Ben Carson, who Trump appointed to direct the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Despite speculation, Trump’s political platform is laid out in 20 points on his official website. Some of his priorities include sealing the border, ending inflation, increasing domestic energy production and manufacturing, eliminating taxes from service professional’s tips, defending the constitution, restoring world peace, ending the weaponization of government and cutting federal funding for critical race theory and radical gender ideology.
“Agenda 47” sets the framework for a second Trump administration, and though some of his priority areas intersect with the plans hidden within Project 2025’s 900 pages, there is no clear connection to the advancement of the Heritage Foundation’s right-leaning initiative.
Cause for Concern
This summer, Project 2025 was brought into the spotlight during early campaign efforts by the Democratic Party. Civil rights groups and party loyalists have since intensified the debate, expressing dire concerns about the plan’s potential impact on democracy and the separation of power.
Democrats believe that the plan’s implementation is less than a year away, with its success dependent on the outcome of the 2024 presidential election.
Beyond conservative versus liberal ideology, varied interpretations of the initiative have resulted in a litany of discussion around its suspected intentions. Many believe that Project 2025 calls for a reorganization of the entire executive branch, giving the president full control over hiring and firing of government employees and unprecedented power over independent agencies.
Opponents believe that, if elected, Trump would have the power to enact policy swiftly and without congressional resistance. Despite administration changes regularly resulting in the appointment of individuals aligned with the party in power, critics anticipate that upon return to the Oval Office, he would only appoint people loyal to the Heritage Foundation’s agenda.
Project 2025 is based on the myth that there exists a Deep State in America, and that people with extremist ideologies are involved in the secret manipulation of government policy to replace liberal posts with supporters of a solely conservative agenda. The belief that increasingly progressive policies have resulted in conservative frustration strengthens concerns that the plan is more than a research institute’s ideological framework.
Some of the entities believed to be targets of this plan include the Department of Justice(DOJ), the Environment Protection Agency (EPA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Department of Education, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Office of Family Assistance and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Instead of dismantling systemic inequity, Project 2025’s implementation could result in cuts to funding and environmental regulations that would have an especially detrimental impact on communities of color. Social policies such as reproductive rights would also be in jeopardy under this conservative agenda.
Without bipartisan solutions for challenges facing the American people, people are worried about the potential for authoritarianism, which could effectively destroy a democracy that protects economic development, individual freedom and even threaten citizen’s ability to choose a leader.
Adding to these concerns, on July 1, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that presidents have immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts conducted within their core constitutional duties while in office. The 6-3 ruling addressed the potential for prosecutorial action against Trump for the insurrection attempt on the U.S. Capitol Building by individuals convinced that his failure to be re-elected was a result of election fraud.
Fearing that the nation is on the precipice of fundamental change, progressive groups, Democratic politicians, civil rights organizations and impassioned individuals have been vocal in their opposition of Project 2025, arguing that its existence poses a serious threat to democracy.
Project 2025’s Potential Effects on Communities of Color
A Threat to Democracy
Project 2025’s proposal to consolidate executive power would undermine democratic checks and balances. Reclassifying civil servants to appointed roles might allow a president to replace career government officials with loyalists, weakening the independence of federal agencies. This could transform government into an instrument of the ruling party, eroding the nonpartisan nature of civil service and making federal agencies beholden to a single political agency.
A Threat to Civil Rights
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organization that studies reproductive health, 930,160 abortions were performed across the U.S. in 2020, up from approximately 916,000 in 2019. The abortion rate disproportionately affects the Black community, with Black women undergoing abortions at almost five-times the rate of white women.
Project 2025 advocates for policies that could affect the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of medications used for abortion, defunding Planned Parenthood and reinstating the Comstock Act, which bans mailing abortion-related materials.
Additionally, the project includes plans to eliminate legal gender-related protections, with proposals for economic incentivization for traditional, heterosexual couples, and funding cuts for institutions that provide hormone-replacement therapies.
A Threat to Separation of Church and State
Project 2025’s strong focus on conservative values in governance has been a significant point of contention for progressive groups. Critics argue that policies promoting these values in public institutions, particularly schools, violate the First Amendment’s separation of church and state, as they lean heavily toward Christian ideology.
If implemented, the federal government could redirect funding to support religious schools and faith-based organizations, while rolling back protections against religious discrimination.
A Threat of Authoritarianism and Erosion of the Rule of Law
Project 2025’s emphasis on executive power and the reduction of independent regulatory bodies could pave the way for authoritarian governance. By making these institutions answerable only to the president, critics argue that the initiative would erode the rule of law and limit the ability of courts and members of congress to act as a check on executive overreach.
A Threat to Activism
Numerous activists and grassroots organizations have mobilized against the project, organizing protests, media campaigns and lobbying efforts to draw attention to its potential dangers and warning against its perceived existential threat to the rights and freedoms of various marginalized groups.
Voting for Change
Regardless of which presidential candidate wins the 2024 election, the country is facing unprecedented change. Either Trump will return to office as the only president to do so after President Grover Cleveland was re-elected in 1893, four years after his first term ended in 1889; or Kamala Harris will become the first female president in U.S. history.
With a conservative agenda looming in the background of this and future elections, it is important to remain diligent in the pursuit of fair and equitable policy on both a local and national level.
The coming election is seen by many as the most important in the history of this nation, with vigorous support for change, albeit conservative or progressive. By participating in the political process, U.S. citizens can make their voices heard, support their interests and engage in a critical part of the democratic process. There has never been a better reason to vote.
