The landslide Republican victory of the House, Senate, and executive branch in the recent 2024 elections has brought up recent debates over the future of the country. With the majority, Republican leaders plan to take advantage of it in a way that will push America in a conservative direction for years to come.
The Trump administration plans to use the beginning stage of the presidency known as the “honeymoon period” to enact the largest amount of policies. This phase has led to many presidents attempting vast legal change in that period before animosity with Congress is created. Similar to past presidential administrations, such as the first hundred days of Franklin Roosevelt’s presidency, where 77 laws were passed, Trump plans to use this period of time to make drastic changes.
This has culminated in a controversial plan for conservative reform in America known as Project 2025. While many have painted the project as a never-seen-before threat to American democracy, the plan is not something new to American politics. The author of Project 2025 is a conservative think tank called the Heritage Foundation, along with aid from smaller groups. This foundation has been writing the plans for conservative presidents since Reagan’s first term in 1981.
These plans are part of what are known as the Mandate for Leadership book series. This series currently has 9 volumes, with Mandate VII being largely adopted by Trump during his 2016 term. This proposal outlined the current conservative agenda with an increase in border security and decentralization of the economy. The Heritage Foundation claimed 64% of the plan had been adopted by the Trump administration.
Project 2025 is based on Mandate IX, which was published in April of 2023. The document plans to change and enforce many laws in America, including securing the border, banning transgender females from sports, and a reduction of federal spending in order to reduce inflation.
One of the main issues of the project is its view on states’ rights. The plan will give states increased power over education. While this may improve education for some states, others, such as Florida, which has gotten recent media attention for book banning, could increasingly push their own ideologies on students.
Another goal of the project includes increasing executive authority over independent federal agencies. This executive authority has already been increased in recent years, with Trump granted partial immunity by the Supreme Court over his role in the January 6th Capital attack.
This would lead to a change in the balance of federal power, with many worrying that without the proper checks and balances, the president could act more as a dictator than an elected official.
With the impact that Project 2025 will have on America, it would make sense for Trump to embrace this plan in order to show his supporters that he is creating the conservative America they want. However, Trump has repeatedly distanced himself from and even denied his association with the plan due to some of its extremist policies.
These include banning medicine used for abortion, increasing the usage of federal agents to repress protests, and efforts to prevent gender-affirming surgeries. The harsh policies of the plan are more social-based than anything else. They will likely lead to many of the rights citizens have gained through decades of fighting for being removed or greatly weakened.
In earlier tweets during the election campaign, Trump said, “I know nothing about Project 2025, I have no idea who is behind it.” This, however, was a blatant lie, as previously stated; the policies of Trump’s first campaign were mostly written by the Heritage Foundation.
In turn, Democratic leaders have become rightfully terrified of the project due to the Republican supermajority’s ability to pass much of it if they stay unified. This would lead to a more conservative America for the following decades and a fall in the power of the Democratic Party. Liberal politicians formed a “Stop Project 2025 Task Force,” which even created a tip line in order to collect information on the Heritage Foundation’s activities.
Overall, while Project 2025 will undeniably change America permanently; its effects are something that has been seen before with other conservative presidents. Though it will likely damage education and some social protections, the overall consequences have been overblown by both parties in an attempt to gain supporters.
