Will Trump implement Project 2025? What is included in the transition plan?

During the 2024 campaign Democrats tried to tie former President Donald Trump to an unpopular policy plan called Project 2025 in hopes it will turn voters away. Obviously, that hasn’t worked well enough, and with Trump set to return to office next year with a Republican majority in the Senate and possibly the House, he may have wide latitude to pursue his preferred policies.

So what is Project 2025 and how might it impact Trump’s government agenda once he takes office next January?

What is Project 2025?

“Project 2025” is a “presidential change project” released by Heritage Foundationstaunchly conservative think tank. The foundation has issued a “leadership mandate” every election cycle for nearly 40 years, beginning in 1981, after Reagan’s initial victory the previous year.

Reagan subsequently adopted or attempted to implement nearly two-thirds of the 2,000 policy recommendations contained in the first mandate document, according to Heritage Foundation.

Trump reportedly said Five of the eleven justices he considered for appointment to the Supreme Court seat opened after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia were selected by the Heritage Foundation.

A think tank that advocates traditional conservative policies of “free enterprise, limited government… and a strong national defense.” describes project 2025 as a conservative “action plan”.

The document laying out this plan is more than 900 pages of right-wing policy recommendations to expand presidential control over the Justice Department and the FBI, impose nationwide restrictions on access to abortion, roll back environmental regulations and eliminate entire federal agencies.

The project “does not advocate for any candidate or campaign,” according to the statement. sent to X. It is “a coalition of more than 110 conservative groups advocating for policy and personnel recommendations for the next conservative president.”

Is Trump connected to Project 2025?

The vast majority of authors and editors who worked on Project 2025 – 31 out of 38 – have ties to Trump or his previous administration. They include Chris MillerTrump’s former acting Secretary of Defense, Ken Cuccinellihis acting deputy secretary of homeland security and Peter Navarrohis former White House aide, who served a prison sentence for failing to comply with subpoenas from the committee investigating Trump’s efforts to rig the election.

Paul Dance, Trump’s former chief of staff at the US Office of Personnel Management, was project director 2025. Trump adviser Stephen Miller and his press secretary Caroline Leavitt appeared in a video for the Presidential Administration Academy project.

Vice President Kamala Harris tried to portray Trump as in lockstep with Project 2025.

“What you will hear tonight is a detailed and dangerous plan called Project 2025 that the former President intends to implement if he is elected again,” Harris said in a statement. single debate against Trump in September.

Trump distanced himself from the project, saying in July True Social Post “know nothing about Project 2025.”

Trump campaign officials did not respond to requests for comment. The Heritage Foundation also did not respond to a request for comment.

What does Project 2025 offer?

Liberal think tanks and Democratic politicians have accused Project 2025 of trying to turn government on its head and destroy checks and balances in support of a right-wing agenda. The plan is “the most conservative, crazy, radical agenda we’ve seen in modern times,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. September press conference. It “threatens to undermine our democracy,” according to American Civil Liberties Union.

Project 2025’s proposals to restrict access to abortion have received particular attention: It would require the Food and Drug Administration to revoke its approval of the drug mifepristone. used in almost two thirds of abortions in the USA and ban Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid funding.

Trump said in August he does not rule out the possibility of stopping access to the drug. On the campaign trail, he enthusiastically took credit for the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, which he paved the way for by appointing conservative Supreme Court justices. But he also said he would veto national abortion ban.

Prop 2025 would overhaul the Justice Department, including a “significant expansion” of political appointees in the Civil Rights Division and the FBI.

Trump has similarly said he would bring the Justice Department under his political service: “If I become president and I see somebody who’s doing well but is beating me up really bad, I say, ‘Go ahead and indict them.'” he told Univision in an interview last year. John Kelly, his former chief of staff, said Trump often described “constant and obsessive” ideas of using the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service to attack his enemies.

Project 2025 supports stronger environmental regulations, from weakening the Clean Air Act to excluding grizzly bears and other species from laws protecting endangered species. According to the plan, the National Weather Service and five other National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration offices “could be provided on a commercial basis, likely at lower cost and with higher quality.”

Trump, who sometimes declared climate change “hoax”, promised increase fossil fuel production and reduce pollution regulations. In his previous term, he rolled back more than 100 environmental regulations, according to the agency. New York Times analysis.

The plan calls for eliminating the Department of Education – Trump also said he would would fire the department at a rally in Wisconsin in September. It would be cut rules requiring employers Pay employees overtime – Under Trump, the Department of Labor has stripped millions of workers of their right to overtime pay.

On immigration, Project 2025 calls for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to implement “expedited removal” of immigrants without legal status—a process typically used only at the border—and to allow ICE agents to enter “sensitive areas.” The bill would require Congress to fund ICE to increase the daily number of detention center beds to 100,000.

Trump has repeatedly promised order National Guard troops help in mass deportations. He said he would activate the provisions The Alien Enemies Act, which was previously used to arrest people of Japanese, German and Italian descent during World War II, as well as other emergency provisions.

Cybele Mayes-Osterman is a breaking news reporter for USA Today. Contact her at [email protected]. Follow her on X @CybeleMO.