An alarming proposal to overhaul the US federal government that has been linked to Donald Trump calls for firing up to 50,000 officials and replacing them with his loyalists.
The former president has finally broken his silence on it.
Called Project 2025, or the 2025 Presidential Transition Project, it purports to be ‘building now for a conservative victory through policy, personnel, and training’.
Project 2025’s goal is to build four pillars to usher in ‘an effective conservative administration’, according to its website. Those pillars include a policy agenda, personnel, training and a 180-day playbook.
The plan has a range of objectives, from purging government workers considered disloyal to Trump, to restricting abortion and contraception access, to rolling back some civil rights legislation.
Spanning 922 pages, the plan details expanding presidential power and has been flagged as a danger to democracy by many Democrats and President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign.
Project 2025 is being organized by The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Washington, DC. It was crafted from the foundation’s Mandate for Leadership which has influenced presidential administrations since the Reagan administration.
‘The project is the effort of a broad coalition of conservative organizations that have come together to ensure a successful administration begins in January 2025,’ states its site.
‘With the right conservative policy recommendations and properly vetted and trained personnel to implement them, we will take back our government.’
Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts on Tuesday raised eyebrows with the way he explained that Republicans are ‘in the process of taking this country back’.
‘We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be,’ Roberts said on the War Room podcast hosted by Steve Bannon, who was White House chief strategist for the first seven months of the Trump administration.
Trump a few days after Roberts’ ‘second American Revolution’ remark publicly addressed Project 2025 for the first time.
‘I know nothing about Project 2025,’ Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Friday.
‘I have no idea who is behind it. 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.’
Despite Trump’s denial of any connection with the project, its leaders include numerous former officials of the 45th president.
The project’s director is Paul Dans, who served as chief of staff at the Office of Personnel Management during the Trump administration.
Its associate director, Spencer Chretien, served in the Trump administration as special assistant to the president as well as associate director of presidential personnel.
Project 2025 states on its site: ‘Most recently, the Trump administration relied heavily on Heritage’s “Mandate” for policy guidance, embracing nearly two-thirds of Heritage’s proposals within just one year in office.’
The Biden campaign has been hammering at Project 2025 especially after his disastrous debate performance cast doubt among Democrats on his mental and physical fitness to run his reelection campaign and serve another four years.
After Trump posted on social media on Friday, the Biden-Harris HQ X (formerly Twitter) account accused the former president of ‘desperately’ trying to deny knowledge of Project 2025.
They included a fact check claiming that the ex-president’s Super PAC is running adds calling it ‘Trump’s Project 2025’ and that his press secretary is starring in recruitment ads for the project.
The Biden-Harris HQ also stated that Trump said he ‘needs’ the Heritage Foundation to enact his Make America Great Again agenda.
Chatter around Project 2025 has extended beyond the political realm.
Last Sunday, the host of the Black Entertainment Television Awards made several references to Project 2025. Taraji Henson mentioned a few of the project’s proposals, including compulsory military service.
‘Did you know that it is now a crime to be homeless? Pay attention. It’s not a secret: Look it up. They are attacking our most vulnerable citizens,’ she said.
‘The Project 2025 plan is not a game. Look it up!’
Henson encouraged viewers to vote because ‘it’s about making decisions that will affect us as human beings, our careers, our next generations to come’.
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