USPolitics
Project 2025 Paves the Way for an America First White House
Project 2025 Paves the Way for an America First White House
...And that's exactly why it's being attacked
By: Arnold Bernini đť•Ź | 07/17/2024
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Chyrons and headlines are currently inundated with information on Project 2025, but what is the boisterous proposal, why did President Trump seemingly disavow it, and why does it matter from here on out to November and beyond?
Simply put, Project 2025 serves as a transitionary, 900-page document forged by the Heritage Foundation and conservative influencers, as well as a personnel database to staff the next Trump White House with vetted and competent America First staff.
"Contributors include former elected officials, world-renowned economists, and veterans from four presidential Administrations," notes the Project 2025 website.
The document details policy guidance ranging from reoutfitting a conservative executive branch — granting a true cleaning of ineffective legacy bureaucrats — to remodeling three-letter agencies, enforcing border security, deportations, a pro-life agenda, cutting down on biased public media infractions, slowing legal immigration, banning pornography, and cracking down on the Federal Reserve.
The Project isn’t exclusive to Trump. The beauty of the plan is that it provides a working and reliable framework to help America succeed, independent of the Republican candidate assuming office. The Heritage Foundation specifically intended the Project to put America First.
Here are some policy measures that over 100 conservative groups and thinkers have packed into Project 2025:
Abortion
Project 2025 calls for the FDA to reverse its approval of the abortion pill mifepristone and require it to be dispensed in person instead of through the mail. The document goes on to state that "the next conservative administration should therefore announce its intent to enforce federal law against providers and distributors of such pills" and establish a "pro-life task force to ensure that all of the department's divisions seek to use their authority to promote the life and health of women and their unborn children."
The "Family Agenda" section of the document recommends the Health and Human Services chief "proudly state that men and women are biological realities" and that "married men and women are the ideal, natural family structure because all children have a right to be raised by the men and women who conceived them."
Targeting the Federal Reserve
Dr. Paul Winfree was Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Council, and Director of Budget Policy under the Trump administration. He recommended several crackdowns on the U.S. central bank.
Winfree argued to eliminate the Fed's dual mandate, limit the Federal Reserve's lender-of-last-resort function, wind down the Federal Reserve's balance sheet, limit future balance sheet expansions to U.S. Treasuries, and to stop paying interest on excess reserves.
In addition to the proposed reforms, Winfree also offered to transfer to a Free Banking system. "In free banking, neither interest rates nor the supply of money is controlled by the government. The Federal Reserve is effectively abolished, and the Department of the Treasury largely limits itself to handling the government's money," the document said.
Cracking down on Federal agencies
The outline mandates that the DOD be restructured to "[r]eestablish a culture of command accountability, nonpoliticization, and warfighting focus."
Project 2025 suggests that DHS sub-agencies be either combined with others or moved under the purview of other departments, stating "U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) be combined with Immigration and Customs Enforcement... into a standalone border and immigration agency at the Cabinet level."
The report also calls out federal biases and a "DEI agenda."
"As federal departments and agencies cannot play partisan politics, staff—irrespective of hiring mechanism—as well as implementers and grantees that engage in ideological agitation on behalf of the DEI agenda should be dismissed, and entities should be debarred."
Immigration reform
One of the core promises of the Project is to defend the nation's borders against global threats. Part of the proposed solution would be to end illegal immigration and seal the border.
The outline proposes that if all immigration agencies are not merged, then an appropriate third alternative would be to consolidate ICE and CBP to form a combined Border Security and Immigration Agency (BSIA).
"This would integrate critical interdiction, enforcement, and investigative resources, enhancing coordination and refocusing collective efforts on the vast and complex cross-border threats impacting our nation's health, safety, and national security," the document notes.
Trump's disagreement
Despite the clear American First agenda of Project 2025, Trump still won't back it or even acknowledge its promises. Instead, his campaign backs an alternative program entitled Agenda 47. Recently, JD Vance, Trump's Vice President pick, has also disavowed Project 2025.
Agenda 47 is the establishment alternative to the legacy campaign Project 2025 offers. This can be clearly seen when one looks at the proponents of Agenda 47. Supporters include GOP campaign operatives Chris Lacivita, Susie Wiles, and Stephen Miller (Trump's Senior Advisor who claimed to have been "never involved" with the project).
On July 5, when Trump disavowed the Project, he also hinted at working with Nikki Haley in the future. "I know nothing about Project 2025," Trump said on his Truth Social. "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." '
On July 10, Trump doubled down on his disapproval again on Truth Social. “I know nothing about Project 2025. I have not seen it, have no idea who is in charge of it, and, unlike our very well received Republican Platform, had nothing to do with it. The Radical Left Democrats are having a field day, however, trying to hook me into whatever policies are stated or said. It is pure disinformation on their part.”
As indicated by the panicked media, the framework for Project 2025 is actually right-wing. It's the only real, effective, thought-out, and thorough plan Republicans have going into 2025. It contains the ideas and the legal procedures of how to put instate policy into action — which, again, was spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation and 100 conservative groups. Project 2025 is the only grassroots action that separates itself from the establishment.
Trump is not an idiot, and he is trying to preserve his image while the establishment fearmongers about Project 2025. Yet, by alienating himself from the Project, in an attempt to moderate his message for those in the media, he is trading efficiency for perceived appeal. Without both the policy and personnel of the Project, it is likely that a second Trump White House will be plagued by the same bureaucratic inefficiencies and lack of clear vision as the first.
Today, Trump can escape the spotlight while the media attacks real conservative policy. But while Trump dodges, key loyalists who supported him from the beginning are left to fend for themselves. The disownment is smart for Trump: he wants off the spotlight and into the presidency, but it hurts an effective conservative movement detached from the establishment. There’s no point in winning if you have already surrendered on principle to the Left.
John McEntee, a previous political advisor to the Trump administration and Trump Loyalist since 2016, serves as a senior advisor for Heritage's Project 2025. McEntee is also joined by Kevin Roberts, a Catholic president of The Heritage Foundation who is devoted to "institutionalizing Trumpism." These are just two up-and-coming conservative figures drafting real policy who are now being bludgeoned by mainstream attacks.
It's easy to see why the media hates Project 2025. It's an effective policy with a clear path to radically change the country for the better.
Project 2025 is the new boogeyman the media can attack. Why? Because it nails all of the right policies, and even the policies it does not nail, it makes up for them by effectively detaching the conservative movement from establishment actors.
Simply put, Project 2025 serves as a transitionary, 900-page document forged by the Heritage Foundation and conservative influencers, as well as a personnel database to staff the next Trump White House with vetted and competent America First staff.
"Contributors include former elected officials, world-renowned economists, and veterans from four presidential Administrations," notes the Project 2025 website.
The document details policy guidance ranging from reoutfitting a conservative executive branch — granting a true cleaning of ineffective legacy bureaucrats — to remodeling three-letter agencies, enforcing border security, deportations, a pro-life agenda, cutting down on biased public media infractions, slowing legal immigration, banning pornography, and cracking down on the Federal Reserve.
The Project isn’t exclusive to Trump. The beauty of the plan is that it provides a working and reliable framework to help America succeed, independent of the Republican candidate assuming office. The Heritage Foundation specifically intended the Project to put America First.
Here are some policy measures that over 100 conservative groups and thinkers have packed into Project 2025:
Abortion
Project 2025 calls for the FDA to reverse its approval of the abortion pill mifepristone and require it to be dispensed in person instead of through the mail. The document goes on to state that "the next conservative administration should therefore announce its intent to enforce federal law against providers and distributors of such pills" and establish a "pro-life task force to ensure that all of the department's divisions seek to use their authority to promote the life and health of women and their unborn children."
The "Family Agenda" section of the document recommends the Health and Human Services chief "proudly state that men and women are biological realities" and that "married men and women are the ideal, natural family structure because all children have a right to be raised by the men and women who conceived them."
Targeting the Federal Reserve
Dr. Paul Winfree was Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Council, and Director of Budget Policy under the Trump administration. He recommended several crackdowns on the U.S. central bank.
Winfree argued to eliminate the Fed's dual mandate, limit the Federal Reserve's lender-of-last-resort function, wind down the Federal Reserve's balance sheet, limit future balance sheet expansions to U.S. Treasuries, and to stop paying interest on excess reserves.
In addition to the proposed reforms, Winfree also offered to transfer to a Free Banking system. "In free banking, neither interest rates nor the supply of money is controlled by the government. The Federal Reserve is effectively abolished, and the Department of the Treasury largely limits itself to handling the government's money," the document said.
Cracking down on Federal agencies
The outline mandates that the DOD be restructured to "[r]eestablish a culture of command accountability, nonpoliticization, and warfighting focus."
Project 2025 suggests that DHS sub-agencies be either combined with others or moved under the purview of other departments, stating "U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) be combined with Immigration and Customs Enforcement... into a standalone border and immigration agency at the Cabinet level."
The report also calls out federal biases and a "DEI agenda."
"As federal departments and agencies cannot play partisan politics, staff—irrespective of hiring mechanism—as well as implementers and grantees that engage in ideological agitation on behalf of the DEI agenda should be dismissed, and entities should be debarred."
Immigration reform
One of the core promises of the Project is to defend the nation's borders against global threats. Part of the proposed solution would be to end illegal immigration and seal the border.
The outline proposes that if all immigration agencies are not merged, then an appropriate third alternative would be to consolidate ICE and CBP to form a combined Border Security and Immigration Agency (BSIA).
"This would integrate critical interdiction, enforcement, and investigative resources, enhancing coordination and refocusing collective efforts on the vast and complex cross-border threats impacting our nation's health, safety, and national security," the document notes.
Trump's disagreement
Despite the clear American First agenda of Project 2025, Trump still won't back it or even acknowledge its promises. Instead, his campaign backs an alternative program entitled Agenda 47. Recently, JD Vance, Trump's Vice President pick, has also disavowed Project 2025.
Agenda 47 is the establishment alternative to the legacy campaign Project 2025 offers. This can be clearly seen when one looks at the proponents of Agenda 47. Supporters include GOP campaign operatives Chris Lacivita, Susie Wiles, and Stephen Miller (Trump's Senior Advisor who claimed to have been "never involved" with the project).
On July 5, when Trump disavowed the Project, he also hinted at working with Nikki Haley in the future. "I know nothing about Project 2025," Trump said on his Truth Social. "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." '
On July 10, Trump doubled down on his disapproval again on Truth Social. “I know nothing about Project 2025. I have not seen it, have no idea who is in charge of it, and, unlike our very well received Republican Platform, had nothing to do with it. The Radical Left Democrats are having a field day, however, trying to hook me into whatever policies are stated or said. It is pure disinformation on their part.”
As indicated by the panicked media, the framework for Project 2025 is actually right-wing. It's the only real, effective, thought-out, and thorough plan Republicans have going into 2025. It contains the ideas and the legal procedures of how to put instate policy into action — which, again, was spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation and 100 conservative groups. Project 2025 is the only grassroots action that separates itself from the establishment.
Trump is not an idiot, and he is trying to preserve his image while the establishment fearmongers about Project 2025. Yet, by alienating himself from the Project, in an attempt to moderate his message for those in the media, he is trading efficiency for perceived appeal. Without both the policy and personnel of the Project, it is likely that a second Trump White House will be plagued by the same bureaucratic inefficiencies and lack of clear vision as the first.
Today, Trump can escape the spotlight while the media attacks real conservative policy. But while Trump dodges, key loyalists who supported him from the beginning are left to fend for themselves. The disownment is smart for Trump: he wants off the spotlight and into the presidency, but it hurts an effective conservative movement detached from the establishment. There’s no point in winning if you have already surrendered on principle to the Left.
John McEntee, a previous political advisor to the Trump administration and Trump Loyalist since 2016, serves as a senior advisor for Heritage's Project 2025. McEntee is also joined by Kevin Roberts, a Catholic president of The Heritage Foundation who is devoted to "institutionalizing Trumpism." These are just two up-and-coming conservative figures drafting real policy who are now being bludgeoned by mainstream attacks.
It's easy to see why the media hates Project 2025. It's an effective policy with a clear path to radically change the country for the better.
Project 2025 is the new boogeyman the media can attack. Why? Because it nails all of the right policies, and even the policies it does not nail, it makes up for them by effectively detaching the conservative movement from establishment actors.