By Gram Slattery
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A set of conservative policy proposals known as Project 2025 has become a lightning rod for opponents of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump as they seek to highlight what they say are the dangers of him retaking the White House.
Trump has recently tried to distance himself from Project 2025, even though many of his closest policy advisers are deeply involved. The campaign of Democratic President Joe Biden says the project is proof that Trump would adopt a series of authoritarian and hard-right policies if elected.
WHAT IS PROJECT 2025?
At its heart, Project 2025 is a series of detailed policy proposals put together by hundreds of high-profile conservatives that the project’s participants hope Trump adopts if elected. Those proposals are laid out in a roughly 900-page book.
Participants in the project are also assembling lists of thousands of conservatives that could be slotted into politically appointed positions throughout the government in the opening days of a Trump administration. Behind the scenes, the project’s affiliates are drafting executive orders and agency regulations that could be used to quickly implement the policies that the project is advocating once Trump takes office.
IS IT CONNECTED TO THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN?
Yes and no.
The project, a collaboration of dozens of conservative organizations, is overseen by the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank. The group is independent of the Trump campaign, a fact Project 2025 and Trump himself have emphasized.
“I know nothing about Project 2025,” Trump said on social media in early July.
But that’s not the whole story.
In practice, many of Trump’s closest policy advisers and those likely to take high-ranking positions in his administration are heavily involved in the project.
For instance, former Trump administration official Russ Vought has played a major role in Project 2025. He also serves as the policy director of the Republican National Convention’s platform committee, an appointment the campaign signed off on.
WHAT ARE THE PROJECT’S MAIN PROPOSALS?
Project 2025’s policy suggestions range in topic from foreign affairs to education.
Among other things, Project 2025 proposes enforcing laws that make it illegal to mail abortion pills over state lines, criminalizing pornography and eliminating the Department of Education.
The project also advocates a sweeping elimination of environmental regulations and a crackdown on programs to boost diversity in the workplace, which the project argues are broadly illegal.
The project also calls for a broad expansion in presidential power by boosting the number of political appointees and increasing the president’s authority over the Justice Department. That last proposal has spooked many law enforcement officials, who say it will undermine the department’s ability to conduct investigations without political interference.
DOES TRUMP AGREE WITH THE PROJECT’S PROPOSALS?
Trump appears to agree with many – but not all – proposals.
In practice, his campaign has a small in-house policy team, and he tends to discuss policy only in broad terms on the trail.
Though he has endorsed various proposals that are central to Project 2025, like giving himself the power to radically expand the number of political appointees in government and eliminating the Department of Education, he disagrees with other proposals, like putting restrictions on abortion pills.
WHY IS PROJECT 2025 SUCH A BIG DEAL AT THE MOMENT?
Project 2025 has been around in some form since early 2023.
But in recent months, the Biden campaign has made a concerted effort to raise awareness of Project 2025 among voters and turn the project into a symbol of the hard-right political shift that it says would occur in the U.S. should Trump be elected.
Biden said this week that “Project 2025 will destroy America,” and his campaign has created a web page dedicated to the project. The Democratic National Committee in July announced plans for billboards mentioning Project 2025 in 10 cities.
A Supreme Court ruling in early July that presidents have broad immunity from prosecution for actions taken while in office has heightened concerns among some Trump opponents that the project’s attempts to increase presidential power will be particularly dangerous.
The Trump campaign, in turn, has expressed increasing annoyance with the project, repeatedly emphasizing that the project’s proposals are separate from the campaign’s official policy platform.
In a statement to Reuters, a campaign official accused the Democrats of fearmongering and said only the official Republican platform and a series of proposals from the campaign known as Agenda 47 should be taken as official.
“Team Biden and the DNC are lying and fearmongering because they have nothing else to offer the American people,” said Danielle Alvarez, a campaign spokesperson.
(Reporting by Gram Slattery, editing by Ross Colvin and Rosalba O’Brien)
