On Jan. 20, 2025, Donald Trump will be sworn into office as the 47th president of the United States. Trump won his second term after defeating current Vice President Kamala Harris in an electoral vote of 312 to 226. While on the campaign trail, Trump denied connection to the controversial conservative political initiative ‘Project 2025’, but his actions after winning the election contradict this claim.
Trump’s nominations for his cabinet so far are a mixed bag, with names from eccentric billionaire Elon Musk heading the new Department of Government Efficiency to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. heading the Department of Health and Human Services. But three nominees stand out, especially when juxtaposed with Trump’s campaign claims of not knowing “anything about [Project 2025],” according to ABC News.
Russ Vought, a cited author of an entire chapter in the almost 900-page Project 2025 manifesto, is Trump’s nomination for head of the Office of Management and Budget. Vought led this same office during Trump’s previous term. He’s quoted in his authored chapter expressing his desire to regulate the “sprawling bureaucracy” that limits a president when they assume office.
Brendan Carr was nominated to be the chairman of the Federal Communications Commision (FCC). He also authored Project 2025’s FCC recommendations. If he assumes this position, both Trump and Carr have alluded to the upping of regulations on how TV and radio networks can broadcast negatively about the President by way of the FCC. This is a direct infringement on the Constitutional right to freedom of speech and free press, both included in the First Amendment.
Numerous other names, all directly associated with Project 2025, have appeared on Trump’s growing list of nominations. Pete Hoekstra, John Ratcliffe, and Tom Homan, who Trump has appointed to be the first ever “Border Czar”, which has never been a cabinet position before, are all tied to Project 2025.
Project 2025 aims to drastically reshape the federal government and put the Conservative agenda at its forefront for years to come. If implemented, its impacts could include limiting or banning contraception, the elimination of the Department of Education, and placing many aspects of the federal government under the direct power of the president. This last effect would tilt the power dynamic of our three branches of government drastically towards the executive branch, and undermine the very checks and balances system our government was formed around.
Trump’s sudden change of opinion on Project 2025, while not specifically voiced, could be a peek into what the next four years will look like with him in office. Trump is continuing to roll out nominations and statements on plans for policy, and Americans can only strap in for the realistically bumpy ride ahead.
