the history of project 2025

WHAT IS PROJECT 2025?

Project 2025 is a federal policy agenda and blueprint for a radical restructuring of the executive branch authored and published by former Trump administration officials in partnership with The Heritage Foundation, a longstanding conservative think tank that opposes abortion and reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, immigrants’ rights, and racial equity. Project 2025’s largest publication, “Mandate for Leadership,” is a 900-page manual for reorganizing the entire federal government agency by agency to serve a conservative agenda.

Project 2025 includes a long list of extreme policy recommendations touching on nearly every aspect of American life, from immigration and abortion rights to free speech and racial justice. A number of its recommendations rely on support from the executive branch and from Congress. Many other initiatives are outright unconstitutional.   ACLU

At its heart, Project 2025 is a series of detailed policy proposals put together by hundreds of high-profile conservatives that the project’s participants hope Trump adopts if elected. Those proposals are laid out in a roughly 900-page book.

Participants in the project are also assembling lists of thousands of conservatives that could be slotted into politically appointed positions throughout the government in the opening days of a Trump administration. Behind the scenes, the project’s affiliates are drafting executive orders and agency regulations that could be used to quickly implement the policies that the project is advocating once Trump takes office.   

The project, a collaboration of dozens of conservative organizations, is overseen by the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank. The group is independent of the Trump campaign, a fact Project 2025 and Trump himself have emphasized.

But that’s not the whole story.

In practice, many of Trump’s closest policy advisers and those likely to take high-ranking positions in his administration are heavily involved in the project.

For instance, former Trump administration official Russ Vought has played a major role in Project 2025. He also serves as the policy director of the Republican National Convention’s platform committee, an appointment the campaign signed off on.

Project 2025’s policy suggestions range in topic from foreign affairs to education.

Trump has endorsed various proposals that are central to Project 2025, like giving himself the power to radically expand the number of political appointees in government and eliminating the Department of Education.    Reuters

And finally, from the Heritage Foundation Project 2025 Site

The 2025 Presidential Transition Project is being organized by The Heritage Foundation and builds off Heritage’s longstanding “Mandate for Leadership,” which has been highly influential for presidential administrations since the Reagan era. 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.