This series will examine the MAGA effort to transform the government through a process called Project 2025. We will explore how allies of Donald Trump hope to increase the power of the presidency, eliminate career government positions and cede regulatory responsibility to the individual states, ignoring the failed Articles of Confederation.
If Donald Trump is re-elected in November, the cornerstone if his second administration will be Project 2025. It is a program authored by members of the once Conservative think tank, now full-blown MAGA, Heritage Foundation. It's subtitled The Presidential Transition Project.
So, what is Project 2025?
According to Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts, it is “…the second American Revolution which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.”
This ominous comment shouldn’t be ignored. The Heritage Foundation is not a group to make idle threats. After all, they vowed to undo Roe v Wade. So, it should come as no surprise that they are the ones who recommended the three justices Donald Trump was allowed to appoint.
Despite it being touted as a blueprint for Trump’s second term, he has alternately claimed to have no knowledge of the plan while also saying he disagrees with parts of it. As details of the plan become public, Trump is now trying to distance himself from the Heritage Foundation by disavowing the plan.
His reasons are obvious. Trump is never one to want to share the limelight, so should he win, he wants credit for coming up with the vile plan all on his own. The goal of which is to institutionalize Trumpism beyond his time in office.
Former RNC Chair Michael Steele ridiculed Trump’s dual stance. He also mocked his denial of knowing anyone associated with the project since some were high-ranking officials in his administration.
The project is built on four pillars:
Pillar I—this volume—puts in one place a consensus view of how major federal agencies must be governed and where disagreement exists brackets out these differences for the next President to choose a path.
Pillar II is a personnel database that allows candidates to build their own professional profiles and coalition members to review and voice their recommendations. These recommendations will then be collated and shared with the President-elect’s team, greatly streamlining the appointment process.
Pillar III is the Presidential Administration Academy, an online educational system taught by experts from the coalition. For the newcomer, this will explain how the government functions and how to function in government. For the experienced, they will host in-person seminars with advanced training and set the bar for what is expected of senior leadership.
In Pillar IV—the Playbook—They are forming agency teams and drafting transition plans to move out upon the President’s utterance of “so help me God.”
(From the Playbook Mandate for Leadership)
Slashing employment in the federal government and muzzling "woke propaganda at every level of government"
Eliminating the Department of Education and its "woke-dominated system of public schools"
Prohibiting the FBI from fighting misinformation and disinformation
Ending the "war on fossil fuels" and allowing further development on Native American lands
Ending active FBI investigations that are "contrary to the national interest"
Reducing benefits to veterans and active duty troops while rewarding private contractors
When the Founding Fathers established our federal government, it did so with the understanding that there would be three branches: The Executive, the Legislative and the Judiciary. Each branch would be equal, with a system of checks and balances meant to ensure that no one branch was more powerful than the other. The legislative branch made the laws, the executive branch carried out the laws and the judicial branch interpreted the laws.
It was all working fine, with a few bumps that needed to be ironed out, but over almost 250 years, the process worked. Even a Civil War did not disrupt the country's ability to maintain a functioning government.
Project 2025 wants to obliterate that process through something called the Unitary Executive Theory. This would elevate the office of the president to have the authority to overrule Congress and the courts, making the president a De facto monarch, answerable to no one.
And it's already happening
The recent Supreme Court decision giving Trump immunity for “official acts” means he could go unpunished for the events of January 6th, his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results and even his possession of classified documents. Should he regain the White House, there’s no telling how far an unrestrained Donald Trump would go.
Trump has vowed to get rid of the Department of Education. Project 2025 is proposing similar actions to eliminate the “woke agenda” in public schools. Some states aren’t waiting for it to happen. Florida has already enacted the “Don’t Say Gay” law that prohibits even the discussion of alternative lifestyles in the classroom, including forcing teachers to address students by the gender on their birth certificate even if they identify otherwise
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Public schools in Louisiana and Oklahoma have enacted polices to push a right-wing biased Christian agenda. Classrooms in Louisiana are being forced to display a copy of the Ten Commandments while the Oklahoma State Superintendent is requiring a Bible be present in every classroom and Bible lessons be part of every curriculum.
Project 2025 represents a serious threat to democracy. It will usher in an era of one-party rule with no accountability for those in power. By eliminating government positions that do not align with the MAGA agenda, it promises to undo the system the Founding Fathers intended.
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