Leading up to the presidential election, you’ve likely been hearing Project 2025 discussed by both candidates—Republican candidate Donald Trump, in an effort to distance himself from it, and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, in an effort to tie Trump’s campaign to it. So what exactly is Project 2025? In short, it’s a policy plan established by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, for what they would like to see implemented by the next Republican president. Project 2025 consists of a book called Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise, which lays out its policy agenda and was contributed to by more than 100 organizations and 400 conservative scholars and policymakers. This book has been published since the 1980s. Additionally, Project 2025 includes a 180-day playbook, which details a transition plan for every federal agency during the president’s first 180 days in office.
Let’s dive more into the plan and its significance in the upcoming election.
What is the Heritage Foundation?
The Heritage Foundation describes itself as “a research and educational institution whose mission is to build and promote conservative public policies,” with a mission to “formulate and promote public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.” The organization has been drafting playbooks for Republican presidents since Ronald Reagan in 1981. Think tanks on both the left and the right regularly draft out policies they would like to see implemented by future presidents.[1]Donald E. Abelson & Christine M. Carberry, Policy Experts in Presidential Campaigns: A Model of Think Tank Recruitment, 27 PRESIDENTIAL STUD. Q. 679 (1997). This article can be found in HeinOnline’s Law Journal Library. Previous Heritage Foundation director Paul Dans was formerly Trump’s chief of staff of the Office of Personnel Management,[2]2020 United States Government Policy and Supporting Positions 148 (2020). This document can be found in HeinOnline’s Legal Classics database. while Russell Vought, who also served as an official for Trump,[3]I (2017). Nomination of Russell T. Vought, of Virginia, to Be Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget: Hearing & Executive Business Meeting Before the Committee on the Budget United States Senate One Hundred Fifteenth Congress … Continue reading wrote a chapter of the playbook and is the 2024 platform policy director for the Republican National Committee.
What does Project 2025 say?
There are four main goals[4]170 Cong. Rec. H4481 (07/09/2024). This Congressional Record can be found in HeinOnline’s U.S. Congressional Documents database. addressed in the Project 2025 policy recommendations.
- Restore the nuclear family.
- Consolidate and reconstruct administrative agencies.
- Secure U.S. borders.
- Promote individual rights.
Some highlights of policies on hot-button topics include:
Bureaucracy: Project 2025 calls for reducing the power of or eliminating all together several federal agencies, such as the Department of Education. All federal agencies would come under the power of the president. It also calls for eliminating job projections for civil servants and replacing them with political appointees, as well as eliminating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) training in the federal government.
Climate: To reduce energy prices, Project 2025 details investing back in oil and natural gas production, while eliminating funding for renewable energy, therefore rolling back the climate-change policies addressed in President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.
Immigration: A major aim of Project 2025 is to secure the border by finalizing Trump’s U.S.-Mexico border wall, eliminating the Department of Homeland Security and creating a larger immigration enforcement organization, and conducting mass deportations.
Abortion: While Project 2025 does not call for a nationwide abortion ban, it does seek to remove the abortion medication mifepristone[5]170 Cong. Rec. H4481 (07/09/2024). This Congressional Record can be found in HeinOnline’s U.S. Congressional Documents database. from the market and to eliminate federal funding of abortion.
LGBTQ+ Rights: Policies would protect those who don’t want to participate in same-sex marriages, that “instead encourage marriage, work, motherhood, fatherhood, and nuclear families.” Additionally, Project 2025 seeks to prohibit transgender women from participating in women’s sports.
Education: In addition to eliminating the Department of Education, the project would ban education on gender, sexual orientation, and critical race theory. During his presidency, Trump did pass an executive order[6]Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2020 Executive Order 13950-Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping , Daily Comp. Pres. Docs. 1 (2020). This executive order can be found in HeinOnline’s Federal Register Library. banning critical race theory, or “race and sex stereotyping,” in federally funded programs.
How have the presidential candidates responded?
Trump has been trying to distance himself from Project 2025 and the Heritage Foundation. Even though several of his advisors worked on the document, he has stated, “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. Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them.”[7]170 Cong. Rec. H4481 (07/09/2024). This Congressional Record can be found in HeinOnline’s U.S. Congressional Documents database.
However, Harris and other Democrats have been working to tie Trump to these policies. Just last week, Harris released an ad that states, “Trump’s Project 2025 agenda will give him unchecked political power with no guardrails.” The 900-page Project 2025 proposal was even used as a prop at the Democratic National Convention. It was also discussed briefly at the debate between Trump and Harris on September 10:
It is hard to tell at this point which Project 2025 policies Trump would enact if in office. Many of them would likely face legal challenges. The Heritage Foundation has noted that Trump enacted two-thirds of their policy recommendations during his first presidential term. However, Democrats are taking the angle of not taking any chances—Jared Huffman, congressman from California, has created a Stop Project 2025 Task Force, stating, “The stakes just couldn’t be higher.”
To learn more about the views and policies of the Harris-Walz and Trump-Vance campaigns, check out our recent blog post.
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HeinOnline Sources
| ↑1 | Donald E. Abelson & Christine M. Carberry, Policy Experts in Presidential Campaigns: A Model of Think Tank Recruitment, 27 PRESIDENTIAL STUD. Q. 679 (1997). This article can be found in HeinOnline’s Law Journal Library. |
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| ↑2 | 2020 United States Government Policy and Supporting Positions 148 (2020). This document can be found in HeinOnline’s Legal Classics database. |
| ↑3 | I (2017). Nomination of Russell T. Vought, of Virginia, to Be Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget: Hearing & Executive Business Meeting Before the Committee on the Budget United States Senate One Hundred Fifteenth Congress First Session. This hearing can be found in HeinOnline’s U.S. Congressional Documents database. |
| ↑4, ↑5, ↑7 | 170 Cong. Rec. H4481 (07/09/2024). This Congressional Record can be found in HeinOnline’s U.S. Congressional Documents database. |
| ↑6 | Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2020 Executive Order 13950-Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping , Daily Comp. Pres. Docs. 1 (2020). This executive order can be found in HeinOnline’s Federal Register Library. |
