What is it and where did it come from?

Project 2025 is a 920-page "Mandate for Leadership" document that outlines a vision for a conservative America. It includes policy proposals and recommendations for staffing key government positions.

The Heritage Foundation created the document and is also coordinating a coalition of over 75 conservative partner organizations for Project 2025. They are providing funding for related initiatives, such as a $100,000 grant to the American Accountability Foundation for researching federal civil servants who might oppose the Trump agenda.

The 180-Day Playbook outlines specific actions to be taken during the first 180 days of a new conservative administration. It aims to quickly implement conservative policies and undo what Project 2025 organizers view as "damage" caused by liberal politicians.

Project 2025 aims to transform the federal government through several key initiatives:

1. Mass Dismissals: This involves reclassifying tens of thousands of federal workers as political appointees, which could potentially lead to the firing of up to 50,000 government employees.

2. Sizing Down: This includes the elimination of agencies such as the Department of Education and the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as bringing others like the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission under direct presidential control.

3. Overhauling: This entails a "top-to-bottom" overhaul of the Department of Justice, which includes ending FBI efforts to combat misinformation and expanding ICE detention facilities.

4. Plus: Furthermore, there are plans to eliminate DEI initiatives in education and the military.

Project 2025 aims to prioritize traditional families and eliminate federal policies supporting LGBTQ+ equality. It also seeks to restrict transgender rights by cutting funding for gender-affirming care and equating being transgender to pornography. Additionally, it proposes removing "sexual orientation and gender identity" from federal rules and equating legal personhood with heterosexuality and gender conformity.

Project 2025 aims to reduce the size of the government by:

- Cutting food assistance for 21.6 million households

- Weakening Social Security

- Repealing the Affordable Care Act

- Removing abortion coverage from healthcare plans

- Defunding Planned Parenthood

- Suspending country lists for H-2A and H-2B temporary worker visas

- Blocking financial aid to states that allow immigrants to access in-state tuition costs

- Ending the protections outlined in the Dream Act

Analysts like Steve Corbin from The Fulcrum argue that Project 2025 is a biased political report designed to support conservative solutions without considering a balanced, cross-partisan approach. This could lead to policies that are not necessarily in the best interest of all Americans but rather serve a specific ideological agenda

Others argue that Project 2025 could undermine democratic institutions and lead to authoritarian governance. The plan's emphasis on consolidating executive power and reclassifying federal workers as political appointees is seen as a move towards creating a “dystopic, right-wing theocracy" and a "fascist's paradise".