Project 2025: Complete overview in a two minute video ... plus transcript and TOC
Medhi Hasan, British-American journalist provides a complete overview of Project 2025 in this fast-talking two-minute video … or you can slow the pace and read his words aligned with the Project 2025 Table of Contents here. The written version also gives you a brief bio on the authors of each chapter.
Candidate Donald J. Trump has disavowed Project 2025. However, 30 of the 35 authors of the project served in his administration or campaign. This is widely considered to be an accurate recap of the policy intentions of the GOP.
(Click image to watch video.)
Section 1: Taking the Reins of Government
1 White House Office
Author: Rick Dearborn, served as the White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative, Intergovernmental Affairs and Implementation in the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump for less than a year from 2017 to 2018. Read More
*** Chapter 1 Hasan: Turn the White House Counsel which is supposed to give the President independent legal counsel advice into an “Activist Force” for the President’s Agenda.
2 Executive Office of the President of the United States
Author: Russ Vought, former director of the Office of Management and Budget, Trump Administration. Read More
*** Chapter 2 Hasan: Root out anyone in the National Security Council at the Office of Management and Budget who is too woke or isn’t aligned with the President’s Agenda.
3 Central Personnel Agencies: Managing the Bureaucracy
Author: Donald Devine, The Washington Post labeled Donald Devine as Ronald Reagan's "terrible swift sword of the civil service" when he served as Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management during President Reagan's first term. Read More
Author: Dennis Dean Kirk, Member and Chair of the Merit Systems Protection Board, Trump Administration. Read More
Author: Paul Dans, Republican political operative and former member of the Donald Trump administration. Read More
*** Chapter 3 Hasan: Replace thousands of career civil servants with MAGA loyalists.
Section 2: The Common Defense
4 Department of Defense
Author: Christopher Miller, Acting Secretary of Defense, Trump Administration. Read More
*** Chapter 4 Hasan: Radically increase the defense budget, expand nuclear weapons production, lift restrictions or arms sales, and expel all transgender people from the military.
5 Department of Homeland Security
Author: Ken Cuccinelli, lawyer and politician who served as the senior official performing the duties of the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, Trump Administration. Read More
*** Chapter 5 Hasan: Ramp up deportation of undocumented immigrants including dreamers, make it easier to detain kids in detention camps and allow ICE officers to arrest migrants anywhere in the US even without a warrant.
6 Department of State
Author: Kiron K. Skinner, Director of Policy Planning at the United States Department of State in the Trump administration. Read More
*** Chapter 6 Hasan: Defund The Palestinian Authority, bring back Trump’s Remain in Mexico asylum policy and restrict funding for international health organizations like the WHO.
7 Intelligence Community
Author: Dustin J. Carmack, was a research fellow for cybersecurity, intelligence, and emerging technologies at The Heritage Foundation.
*** Chapter 7 Hasan: Ramp up the use of covert ops and use the CIA to “implement the President’s Agenda.”
8 Media Agencies
Author: Mora Namdar, An attorney and foreign policy expert, she previously served as the Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs and Vice President of the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM). Trump Administration. Read More
Author: Mike Gonzalez, journalist and author, speech writer with the Bush Administration Read More
*** Chapter 8 Hasan: Defund “leftist news organizations like NPR, PBS.”
9 Agency for International Development
Author: Max Primorac, Senior Research Fellow in the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at The Heritage Foundation. Read More
*** Chapter 9 Hasan: Get rid of all climate policy from our foreign aid programs
Section 3: The General Welfare
10 Department of Agriculture
Author: Daren Bakst was a senior research fellow for environmental policy and regulation at The Heritage Foundation. Read More
*** Chapter 10 Hasan: Restrict food stamps and free school meals for low income school districts.
11 Department of Education
Author: Lindsey M. Burke, Director, Center for Education Policy and Mark A. Kolokotrones Fellow in Education. Read More
*** Chapter 11 Hasan: Abolish the Department of Education
12 Department of Energy and Related Commissions
Author: Bernard L. McNamee, was a government official who served as Commissioner of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission from 2018 to 2020. Trump Administration. Read More
*** Chapter 12 Hasan: Gut renewable energy programs and vastly expand our natural gas infrastructure program
13 Environmental Protection Agency
Author: Mandy M. Gunasekara, Former Chief of Staff at US EPA, Trump Administration. Read More
*** Chapter 13 Hasan: Shrink the EPA and shut down the Office of Environmental Justice.
14 Department of Health and Human Services
Author: Roger Severino, attorney for the Christian right, led the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Rights during the Trump administration. Read More
*** Chapter 14 Hasan: Get rid of Head Start for low income families and ban abortion pill misoprostol.
15 Department of Housing and Urban Development
Author: Benjamin S. Carson, Sr., MD, neurosurgeon, academic, author, and politician who served as the 17th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Trump Administration.
*** Chapter 15 Hasan: Ban all not-citizens from living in government subsidized housing even if they are living in a family with citizens.
16 Department of the Interior
Author: William Perry Pendley, attorney, conservative activist, political commentator, and government official who served as the acting director of the Bureau of Land Management, Trump Administration. Read More
*** Chapter 16 Hasan: Weaken the Endangered Species Act, significantly expand oil drilling in Alaska.
17 Department of Justice
Author: Gene Hamilton, lawyer and policymaker who served within the U.S. Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security, Trump Administration. Read More
*** Chapter 17 Hasan: empower the president to investigate his opponent through the DOJ and eliminate the FBI’s independence.
18 Department of Labor and Related Agencies
Author: Jonathan Berry, attorney, consultant, served as Chief Counsel to the President-Elect Trump Transition, advising on ethics and legal policy. Read More
*** Chapter 18 Hasan: Make it easier for businesses to discriminate on the basis of “religious freedom” and, of course, race.
19 Department of Transportation
Author: Diana Furchtgott-Roth, served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology at the United States Department of Transportation during the Trump administration. Read More
*** Chapter 19 Hasan: Restrict the EPA’s ability to regulate CO2 emissions from cars.
20 Department of Veterans Affairs
Author: Brooks D. Tucker, served as the Chief of Staff for the Department of Veterans Affairs, Trump Administration Read More
*** Chapter 20 Hasan: Force the Department of Veteran’s Affairs to cease abortion services and gender affirming surgeries.
Section 4: The Economy
21 Department of Commerce
Author: Thomas F. Gilman, Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Secretary for Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Trump Administration Read More
*** Chapter 21 Hasan: Focus the Minority Business Development Agency on the “evils” of socialism and communism.
22 Department of the Treasury
Author: William L. Walton, trustee of Heritage Foundation, Agency Action Leader at the Trump Transition Team Read More
Author: Stephen Moore, economist and Social Security opponent Read More
Author: David R. Burton, Senior Fellow in Economic PolicySenior Fellow in Economic Policy, The Heritage Foundation Read More
*** Chapter 22 Hasan: Increase taxes on millions of low income and middle class households.
23 Export-Import Bank
The Export-Import Bank Should Be Abolished
Veronique de Rugy, economic columnist Read More
Author: Jennifer Hazelton, Deputy Assistant Administrator of Public Affairs at USAID, Trump Administration
*** Chapter 23 Hasan: It’s just a long rant against China
24 Federal Reserve
Author: Paul Winfree, Distinguished Fellow in Economic Policy and Public Leadership at The Heritage Foundation. Read More
*** Chapter 24 Hasan: Should we bring back the gold standard?
25 Small Business Administration
Author: Karen Kerrigan, President & CEO of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council Read More
** Chapter 25 Hasan: Punish Planned Parenthood for getting Covid-19 relief loans
26 Trade
The Case for Fair Trade
Author: Peter Navarro, economist who served in the Trump administration, first as Deputy Assistant to the President and director of the short-lived White House National Trade Council, then as Assistant to the President, Director of Trade and Manufacturing Policy in the new Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy; he was also named the national Defense Production Act policy coordinator. Read More
Convicted on two counts of Contempt of Congress.
The Case for Free Trade
Author: Kent Lassman, president and CEO of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, an American free market think tank. Read More
*** Chapter 26 Hasan: Give more of Congress’s power to make trade agreements to the President.
Section 5: Independent Regulatory Agencies
27 Financial Regulatory Agencies
Securities and Exchange Commission and Related Agencies
Author: David R. Burton, Senior Fellow in Economic PolicySenior Fellow in Economic Policy, The Heritage Foundation Read More
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Author: Robert Bowes, Senior Advisor, Housing and Urban Development, Trump Administrator, Field Director, Trump campaign. Read More
*** Chapter 27 Hasan: Abolish the Consumer Financial Projection Bureau which has saved consumers tens of billions of dollars.
28 Federal Communications Commission
Author: Brendan Carr, Commissioner Brendan Carr is the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission, having served previously as the FCC’s General Counsel. Read More
*** Chapter 28 Hasan: Limit content moderation on social media platforms, leave hate speech alone.
29 Federal Election Commission
Author: Hans A. von Spakovsky, Manager, Election Law Reform Initiative, The Heritage Foundation Read More
Article: The man who cries voter fraud: how Hans von Spakovsky has built a career peddling election security fears, The Guardian, July 10, 2024
*** Chapter 29 Hasan: Take away the Federal Elections Commission power to prosecute election and campaign law violations
30 Federal Trade Commission
Author: Adam Candeub, Michigan State University Law School Professor, Read More
*** Chapter 30 Hasan: Go after companies with DSG, DEI and other corporate responsibility programs.
Afterword
Onward!
Author: Edwin J. Feulner, Co-Founder of the Heritage Foundation, More Reading
More Reading:
Former Trump Officials Wrote 25 of the 30 Chapters in the Project 2025 Playbook , July 16, 2024, Revolving Door Project
About the Revolving Door Project
The Revolving Door Project (RDP) scrutinizes executive branch appointees to ensure they use their office to serve the broad public interest, rather than to entrench corporate power or seek personal advancement.
Curated by Joyce Wycoff, jwycoff@gratitudemojo.com, August 2, 2024