Though it’s only June, the 2024 presidential election season is in full swing. On June 27 we saw the earliest presidential debate in history, and discussions of policy and administration have already been occurring for months.
With these discussions comes a need to understand exactly what each president’s game plan is going to look like. This is where Project 2025 comes in — and it has voters seriously concerned.
In short, Project 2025 is a conservative presidential transition project, meaning it outlines how conservative leaders plan to transition the current Biden administration to a new Trump administration.
It’s important to note that this is not Trump’s official plan (rather, his proposed administration points to Agenda47, which has its own problems), but Project 2025 still raises concerns about what a second Trump term could look like, and what it could do to our country.
Project 2025 is run primarily by the well-funded (8-figure), right-wing think tank The Heritage Foundation, and it aims to carry out a far-right agenda through a conservative leader in the White House. They plan to fire any federal employee who opposes or does not adequately support right-wing policies, eliminate protections for the LGBTQ+ community, and completely end access to abortion and contraception, among other far-right agenda items — reversing years of progress.
Project 2025 has a 180-Day Playbook outlined on their website, as well as a 900+ page “Mandate for Leadership” — a manifesto that acts as a central pillar to their organization. Their plans to transform the executive branch are meticulous and methodical, and they’re posted publicly for everyone to see. Here are some of their main talking points broken down.
Project 2025 On LGBTQ+ Rights:
As stated by their Mandate for Leadership, Project 2025 believes that marriage is a union between a man and an unrelated woman — specifically stating that “children require and deserve both the love and nurturing of a mother and the play and protection of a father.”
Project 2025 cites their belief that nontraditional family units are unsafe and unreliable for children, and expresses their goal to promote “the formation of stable, married, nuclear families” by repealing legislation that supports single parents and LGBTQ+ marriages.
They want to strip away non-discrimination policies, including removing terms such as “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” from federal legislation, restricting workplace protections for LGBTQ+ employees, and defining “sex discrimination” as applying only to the “biological binary” of male and female as assigned at birth.
Project 2025 is particularly outspoken against the transgender community, eliminating transgender healthcare in Medicare and Medicaid, as well as reversing policies that allow transgender people to serve in the military.
Project 2025 On Abortion:
Project 2025 aims to undo any FDA approval of abortion pills, along with a push to eliminate contraception. They also aim to end Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood and prevent all healthcare plans from covering abortions.
The Department of Health and Human Safety will be changed into the “Department of Life” under Project 2025’s anti-abortion policies. However, they do not explicitly call for a nationwide abortion ban.
Project 2025 On Education Policies:
Project 2025 also wants to dismantle the Department of Education altogether, among other federal agencies.
Schools will not be allowed to use students’ preferred pronouns if they don’t match up with their gender assigned at birth. Additionally, Project 2025 aims to remove “gender ideology” and critical race theory from school curriculums, which, according to them, “poison and indoctrinate children with leftist ideologies,” leaving a “devastating effect.”
Additionally, Project 2025 wants to eliminate the Head Start early education program, which serves more than one million children annually. It also plans to roll back federal student loan programs that help parents of college students, graduate students, and immigrants afford higher education.
On top of that, Project 2025 seeks to eliminate DEI policies all over the country — including in schools — under the belief that equity programs amount to “racist policymaking” and “affirmative discrimination.”
Project 2025 On Immigration:
Project 2025 wants to restrict criteria for asylum seekers, expand ICE detention facilities, and restrict visas for human trafficking and crime victims. They claim that immigrants released from detention facilities often “disappear” and commit crimes.
In addition, Project 2025 proposes increased funding for a border wall between the US and Mexico, the consolidation of multiple immigration agencies, and a vast expansion in their powers.
Project 2025 On Terrorism:
Project 2025 aims to dismantle the Department of Homeland Security, under the impression that it has been “weaponized” against conservatives by monitoring far-right domestic terrorist threats.
Project 2025 On The Environment:
Finally, under Project 2025’s proposed administration, climate action and environmental protections will end, which they view as a “radical” and “extremist” agenda pushed by the left.
They call for the next president to “stop the war on oil and natural gas.” Additionally, they propose slashing federal money for investment in and research into renewable energy.