As the 2024 US presidential election approaches, an initiative known as Project 2025 has become a focal point of the political debate after its scope, reach, and goals became a matter of public dominion. Recently, it was revealed that many of the biggest backers of the extremely controversial policy document are Wall Street firms thanks to reporting from TheLever.
The program, conjured by the far right-wing think tank Heritage Foundation, consists of dramatic changes that would be implemented during the second term of Donald Trump if he is elected president again. It has been a popular talking point amongst both the far right and the left as it includes some extraordinarily extreme and divisive ideas.
The proposal has drawn criticism from Democrats and has raised concerns about the intentions of those who back the program to shape America’s long-standing democratic system into a more authoritarian regime.
What is Project 2025?
Project 2024 is a set of policy proposals that have been compiled into a book that is over 900 pages long. It introduces significant changes to various areas of the federal government and American society.
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For example, it directs the future administration (Trump’s cabinet) to appoint conservative politicians for multiple roles across the different departments and agencies that make up the federal government and promotes the issuance of executive orders that can speed up the implementation of these policies. This would likely destroy the already weakened administrative state, allowing corporations to run wild and harm citizens in countless ways.
Ideally (for the Heritage Foundation), these changes would be introduced as soon as President Trump takes office in January 2025.
These Are Some of the Key Changes that Project 2025 Advocates For
Project 2025 covers a wide range of topics, areas, and subjects related to how the federal government functions. The proposals made in this document would have an immediate impact on how the government addresses matters including education, technological development, climate change, abortion, and energy.
The document proposes that all of the independent agencies that work autonomously within the executive branch be placed under the direct control of the President of the United States.
It also advocates for the elimination of job protection and certain other government benefits and for the immediate overhaul of federal agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Education. This would lead to total disaster in public schools across the nation as their already measly tax funding would be diverted to private schools. That is only one of many potentially devastating consequences.
On the controversial topic of immigration, Project 2025 pushes heavily toward the construction of a US-Mexico border wall and the creation of a larger Homeland Security department that supposedly better protects the interests of the nation. Moreover, it supports the implementation of what would be “the largest deportation program in American history.” Millions of men, women, and children would be ripped from their homes, even if they had been standup citizens for decades.
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In terms of energy policy and monetary policy, any governmental efforts to reduce carbon emissions would be immediately eliminated, significantly worsening the climate crisis that we’re already facing. This is in line with the beliefs and overall agenda of the Heritage Foundation, which denies all of the extensive scientific evidence that supports climate change as an existential phenomenon caused by humans.
The Federal Reserve and its monetary policy decisions may be eliminated as well under the direction of Project 2025 as the initiative suggests a return to the gold standard which would be horrendous for the country’s economic growth. Meanwhile, in terms of cultural changes, Project 2025 advocates against abortion rights and promotes a “biblically based, social science-reinforced definition of marriage and family” that would result in prohibiting the commercialization of abortion pills. It may also lead to the prohibition of IVF or even no-fault divorce, which Trump’s VP pick, JD Vance, has supported for years.
Terms that have been coined as part of the LGTBQ agenda such as “non-binary” and “gender-neutral” would be eliminated from federal laws and regulations to put an end to the whole diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) movement, especially in schools and government departments and agencies.
Trump Denies Ties With Project 2025: Is He Lying?
Although Trump has not publicly endorsed the agenda of Project 2025, the connection between the proposals and policies he usually promotes and those included in the program’s textbook are quite similar. For example, he followed the advice of the Heritage Foundation, appointing dozens of their preferred candidates to judgeships, including for multiple SCOTUS seats.
Moreover, the people who wrote the policies that would be adopted for different areas of the government are known to be close allies to the former president including Russ Vought, a former administration official, and Paul Dans, who was the Chief of Staff at the Office of Personnel Management during his presidency.
However, Trump recently commented: “I know nothing about Project 2025. 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.”
The Trump campaign has emphasized that only the official Republican platform and the campaign’s “Agenda 47” proposals should be considered official policy positions. A campaign spokesperson named Danielle Alvarez accused Democrats of “lying and fearmongering” by focusing on Project 2025 and creating a whole narrative that these policies are the ones that would be implemented by Trump if he comes back to the Oval Office.
Biden Is Scooping Up Project 2025 and Using It Against Trump
Make no mistake: If elected, J.D. Vance will help implement the extreme Project 2025 plan for a second Trump term, which outlines a plan to restrict access to contraception and ban abortion nationwide.
We will stop them.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 18, 2024
The Biden campaign and the Democratic Party have used Project 2025 as a rallying point to oppose Trump’s potential return to power. President Biden declared that Project 2025 would “destroy America” while his campaign created a dedicated web page to highlight the project’s most damaging proposals.
The Democratic National Committee also has plans to display billboards that mention Project 2025 in 10 cities and a “Stop Project 2025 Task Force” has been formed, led by Congressman Jared Huffman of California.
Democrats argue that Project 2025 represents a dangerous blueprint for authoritarianism and would introduce significant disastrous changes to the country and its government. Recent Supreme Court decisions strengthening presidential immunity and limiting federal agency power have intensified these concerns.
The Heritage Foundation is Receiving Millions in ‘Dark’ Contributions
Most people following US politics closely have heard of Project 2025 and some of its most extreme positions, but few people know who is actually behind the document.
An investigation by The Lever colossal dark money connections to Project 2025 and the Heritage Foundation. Since 2020, the Heritage Foundation has received over $18 million from donor-advised funds, which allow wealthy donors to contribute anonymously.
Contributions from donor-advised funds to the Heritage Foundation increased from $2.7 million in 2022 to $4.3 million in 2023.
Major financial firms like Fidelity Investments, Charles Schwab, and Vanguard manage many of these donor-advised funds, providing an additional layer of anonymity for contributors. The use of donor-advised funds allows wealthy individuals to evade public scrutiny while still receiving the tax benefits associated with their contributions. The Heritage Foundation generally supports any and all policies that help the rich, so this isn’t exactly surprising, but it is revealing.
Critics argue that this funding structure undermines transparency in political advocacy and charitable giving. The rapid growth of donor-advised funds, which now amounts to nearly $230 billion in assets, has raised concerns about the outsized influence that this ‘dark money’ can have on political causes.
If Trump manages to win the election and he does implement some or most of the ideas in Project 2025, it will reveal how powerful big money is in politics (if it wasn’t already obvious).
Lobbying Efforts Hamper Transparency Efforts for ‘Dark’ Donations
Many advocacy groups have tried to increase transparency and push for further regulations to oversee donor-advised funds. However, their initiatives have faced significant opposition, mostly from big money groups and the politicians propped up by them. According to data from The Lever, over $4.6 million have been invested to lobby against these reforms since 2021.
Meanwhile, the Accelerating Charitable Efforts (ACE) bill, which should have supposedly introduced further controls to this type of contribution, never moved up within Congress amid intense lobbying campaigns that rallied against it. Congress people have no incentive to reduce the amount of money in politics because they already have successful campaigns. Reducing dark money in politics would make it easier for other politicians without such extensive networks to take their jobs.
Project 2025 would weaken the authority of tax collection agencies and other federal watchdogs and would concentrate more power on central authorities, which means less accountability. The economy, climate, rights of women, and more would be in severe jeopardy if it were implemented.
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To sum up, Project 2025 puts in writing a controversial vision that aims to reshape the American government and society during the potential second term of President Donald Trump.
Although Trump has denied any ties with these policies and proposals, the project’s deep connections to Trump allies and its embrace by many conservatives have attracted scrutiny and are raising eyebrows among Democrats and even some of Trump’s supporters.
As the election approaches, the debate surrounding Project 2025 will likely intensify as Democrats would use this card to create a narrative that Trump is seeking to dismantle American democracy to establish a more authoritarian government.