Alison Durkee is a senior reporter covering breaking news, with a focus on legal issues and U.S. politics. She joined Forbes in 2020 and is based in New York City, covering such topics as the Supreme Court, litigation against Donald Trump and clashes over abortion rights. Durkee previously covered U.S.
Former President Donald Trump ’s candidacy has drawn widespread scrutiny from the left in part because of Project 2025 , a conservative think tank's wide-ranging blueprint for Trump’s potential second term that covers everything from recruiting like-minded personnel to blowing up entire agencies and getting rid of “wokeness” in government—a platform assembled partly by ex-Trump staffers.
, is a multi-part plan for the next conservative administration—namely a Trump presidency—which includes a LinkedIn-style database for presidential personnel hopefuls, training programs for executive branch positions and an as-yet-unreleased “playbook” laying out what Trump should do in his first 180 days. Though the project is led by the Heritage Foundation and other private third-party groups and is not formally tied to Trump, who has tried tofrom the operation, its proposals were developed in part by former members of his administration and other Trump allies, and the ex-president has previously praised Heritage for its policy work.that describes itself as a “plan to unite the conservative movement and the American people against elite rule and woke culture warriors,” laying out plans for all aspects of the executive branch.Project 2025 broadly proposes to insert far more political appointees who are ideologically aligned with the president into the executive branch—replacing many of the nonpartisan career civil servants who serve in it now—proposing an executive order that would put political appointees into any “confidential, policy-determining, policymaking, or policy-advocating positions” .It proposes a scaled-down federal government, including the abolishment of multiple agencies—including the Department of Education, Department of Homeland Security, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau—whose remaining departments would be folded into other agencies or privatized, including the Transportation Security Administration.Transgender rights and gender identity beyond biological sex are roundly rejected, with such steps as reinstating the ban on transgender Americans serving in the military, prohibiting public school educators from referring to students by anything other than their birth name and pronouns without parental permission, and ensuring no federal funds are used to provide gender-affirming care.Project 2025 seeks to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs from throughout the federal government and in universities, and while it doesn’t outlaw same-sex marriage, it supports “nuclear families” that include a “married mother, father, and their children,” and calls for restricting laws that bar discrimination on the basis of sex to exclude sexual orientation and gender identity.The proposal would undo much of the federal government’s climate work, including by leaving the Paris Climate Agreement, overhauling the Department of Energy to promote oil and natural gas and deemphasize green energy sources, removing the Department of Agriculture’s focus on sustainability and curtailing climate research.While Project 2025 doesn’t explicitly call for an abortion ban, it would take many steps to restrict the procedure, including directing the Food and Drug Administration to revoke its approval of abortion drug mifepristone, using theto block any abortion equipment or medication from being mailed—which abortion rights advocates have said would be a “backdoor” way to ban abortion—barring federal funds being used to provide healthcare coverage for abortion and requiring states to report all abortions that take place there to the federal government.Project 2025 emphasizes a “school choice” policy that directs public funds to be used for students to attend private or religious schools, bars “critical race theory” from being taught in federally funded schools and advocates for legislation that would allow parents to sue schools they feel have acted improperly—such as by teaching controversial subjects or requiring students to disclose information about their religious beliefs.Student loan relief efforts would come to an end—including the public service loan forgiveness program and income-driven repayment plans—as the proposal states “borrowers should be expected to repay their loans.”like those passed in Florida and Texas that seek to punish social media companies who ban or suspend users based on their “viewpoints.”Project 2025 calls for a “top-to-bottom overhaul” of the DOJ and FBI that gets rid of what it calls an “unaccountable bureaucratic managerial class and radical Left ideologues,” proposing an agency that would be more focused on violent crime and filing litigation that’s “consistent with the President’s agenda” and filled with far more political appointees; it also proposes prohibiting the FBI from investigating misinformation or making “politically motivated” moves against U.S. citizens.Project 2025 would seek to get rid of current tax rates and most deductions and credits, instead proposing a 15% rate for anyone under the Social Security wage base and 30% for taxpayers earning more than that—which means the lowest-income taxpayers will now pay more and some higher earners will pay less, and it would also lower the corporate income tax rate to 18%.The project seeks to reform the Federal Reserve by “tak the monetary steering wheel out of hands and return it to the people,” which the authors propose could be done by getting rid of the government’s control over the nation’s money entirely—instead leaving it up to banks—or returning to the gold standard, in which the dollar’s value would be tied to a specific weight of gold.Project 2025 emphasizes opposing China, which it describes as “a totalitarian enemy of the United States,” and directs the U.S. to pull out of international organizations when they don’t serve the administration’s interests, including the World Health Organization and various United Nations agencies.and impose work requirements to receive coverage, as well as reform Medicare—including by making Medicare Advantage, a paid supplement to Medicare, the default option for patients.We’re launching text message alerts so you'll always know the biggest stories shaping the day’s headlines. Text “Alerts” toon Truth Social last week that he has “nothing to do with them,” has “no idea” who’s behind the plan and finds some of its ideas “absolutely ridiculous and abysmal.” But many aren’t buying his claims: The team behind Project 2025 includes 140 people who worked for Trump in his administration, according to, including six former Cabinet secretaries and four people he nominated as ambassadors. The ex-president has also seemingly endorsed the project in the past,at a 2022 dinner for the Heritage Foundation that the group was “going to lay the groundwork and detail plans for exactly what our movement will do … when the American people give us a colossal mandate.”Experts have warned Project 2025’s proposals could have seismic impacts on how the federal government operates if carried out. In an article for, criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor John May suggested Project 2025’s language endorsing the executive branch being able to “restrain the excesses” of the judicial branch and Congress means “if the President wants to, the President can defy any decision of the Supreme Court, any legislation by Congress, maybe even the act of impeachment and removal from office.”The main team behind Project 2025 includes Heritage Foundation director Paul Gans and former Trump White House personnel leaders Spencer Chretien and Troup Hemenway, according to the project’s website. Other groups listed as participating in the project include ex-Trump adviser Stephen Miller’s America First Legal, legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, Liberty University, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and Turning Point USA. The 900-page policy agenda was co-authored by a series of conservative figures, with chapters penned by such Trump allies as former Housing Secretary Dr. Ben Carson, former Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Ken Cuccinelli, former HHS Civil Rights Director Roger Severino and former Trump advisor Peter Navarro, whoTrump will not be under any obligation to follow Project 2025’s proposals if he wins the presidency, though history suggests he’ll listen to at least some of them. The Heritage Foundation made a similar policy proposal for Trump ahead of his presidency in 2016, and boasted two years into his tenure that Trump had already followed 64% of its recommendations, CBS NewsOne area that Project 2025 doesn’t touch on is Social Security benefits and any potential cuts to the program, even as proposals outline changes to numerous other government “entitlements.” Changing Social Security and making cuts to its spending has been a priority for the GOP for decades, though the American public has longin March he “will never do anything that will jeopardize or hurt Social Security or Medicare,” after he came under fire forWhile much of Project 2025’s policy agenda concerns federal agencies, the proposal has also gotten attention for its call to outlaw all pornography, which it claims is tied to “the omnipresent propagation of transgender ideology and sexualization of children” and is not protected under the First Amendment. Project 2025 calls not only for pornography to be made illegal, but also for anyone involved with its production and distribution to be imprisoned, for any librarians or educators who “purvey it” to be registered as sex offenders and for telecommunications and technology firms that facilitate its distribution to be shut down.The Heritage Foundation’s practice of laying out a policy roadmap for a future Republican administration actually dates back to the Reagan era, founder Edwin J. Feulner noted in theof the 2025 edition. The organization first laid out a blueprint in 1981 that President Ronald Reagan ultimately adopted, fulfilling half of its recommendations by the end of his first year in office. The Heritage Foundation has continued to come out with blueprints for potential conservative presidents each election since, it notes, and its 2025 Mandate for Leadership was published in 2023. While it came out last year, Project 2025 gained new attention in the past week since Trump disavowed it—sparking a wave of reports highlighting his ties to the figures behind the project that debunk his claims. Democrats have also used the controversial proposal as a key talking point and argument for why the left should unite behind President Joe Biden and focus on defeating Trump, particularly as Biden’s candidacy has come under widespread scrutiny in the wake of the president’s poor debate performance in June.Our community is about connecting people through open and thoughtful conversations. We want our readers to share their views and exchange ideas and facts in a safe space.Insults, profanity, incoherent, obscene or inflammatory language or threats of any kindContinuous attempts to re-post comments that have been previously moderated/rejectedAttempts or tactics that put the site security at riskProtect your community.
Project 2025 What Is Project 2025 Project 2025 Explained 2024 Election Heritage Foundation Climate Change Student Loan Forgiveness Abortion Trump 2024 Policies
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
2025 Polestar 3, 2025 BMW M2: This Week's Top PhotosPolestar's Cayenne rival, BMW's updated M2, and the final Nissan GT-R all made headlines today.
Read more »
MSGM Men’s Spring 2025, Women’s Resort 2025: The Kids Are More Than AlrightWith his MSGM men’s spring 2025, women’s resort 2025 collections Massimo Giorgetti celebrated color, energy, lightheartedness with a sea theme.
Read more »
How Fox News helps Trump and Project 2025’s dystopian missionThe Morning Joe panel discusses Pete Wehner's latest Atlantic piece 'The Motivated Ignorance of Trump Supporters'.
Read more »
Courrèges Men’s Spring 2025, Women’s Resort 2025: Diving Back Into SummerCourrèges men's spring 2025, women's resort 2025 ready-to-wear runway, fashion show & collection review. Nicolas Di Felice was fantasizing about summer in Greece after a 'never-ending winter.'
Read more »
Courrèges Spring 2025 Men’s and Women’s Resort 2025 Ready-to-Wear CollectionCourrèges Spring 2025 ready-to-wear fashion presentation & collection photos. Designed by Nicolas Di Felice at Paris Fashion Week Men’s, June 2024.
Read more »
To Stop Project 2025 and Trump, Democrats Must Tackle InequalityDr. Hannah Stokes-Ramos is the Managing Director of the Small Planet Institute. They graduated with their PhD in Geography in 2023, with a focus on the political ecology of agro-food systems and participatory justice.
Read more »