Loading …Donald Trump spent months during the 2024 campaign insisting he had nothing to do with Project 2025. The 900-page Heritage Foundation blueprint for restructuring federal government became politically toxic, so Trump distanced himself repeatedly, claiming he’d never read it and didn’t know the people involved.
On Thursday morning, Trump announced he was meeting with “Russ Vought, he of PROJECT 2025 Fame” to decide which “Democrat Agencies” would be cut and whether those cuts would be “temporary or permanent.” He’s not distancing anymore. He’s bragging about implementing the agenda he spent months pretending didn’t exist.
Kamala Harris responded hours later: “This was always the plan. Project 2025 was Donald Trump’s blueprint to seize unchecked power within the federal government and restrict Americans’ freedoms. And he is implementing it right in front of our eyes.”
Discussion
Finally, Trump taking action on promises, time to drain the swamp for good!
It’s past time to starve the Federal Government back to the confines of the constitution. Www.restorefederalism.org
Finally, Trump’s draining the swamp and cutting liberal overreach; about time!
I just hope this doesn't stray too far from real conservative values and principles.
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The Campaign Denial That Lasted Until It Didn’t
Project 2025 became a Democratic campaign weapon in 2024. The comprehensive plan for remaking federal government included proposals to eliminate agencies, fire civil servants, expand presidential power, and implement conservative policy priorities across the executive branch. Many of the authors were former Trump administration officials. The foreword was written by J.D. Vance.
Trump repeatedly denied any connection. “I know nothing about Project 2025,” he posted on Truth Social in July 2024. “I have no idea who is behind it. I disagree with some of the things they’re saying and some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal.”
That denial became untenable once Trump won and started appointing Project 2025 architects to senior positions. Russell Vought, who oversaw the project’s development, became Director of the Office of Management and Budget – the same position he held during Trump’s first term. His role makes him the most powerful unelected official in government when it comes to budget decisions, agency operations, and federal workforce management.
Now Trump is openly celebrating Vought’s Project 2025 connection while using the government shutdown as cover to implement the blueprint’s most aggressive recommendations. “I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity,” Trump wrote Thursday, framing the shutdown as a gift that allows him to restructure government without legislative approval.
The “Democrat Agencies” That Trump Wants Eliminated
Trump’s characterization of federal agencies as “Democrat Agencies” reveals how he views the civil service – not as nonpartisan institutions implementing congressionally approved programs, but as political opponents whose existence depends on ideological alignment with his priorities.
“Most of which are a political SCAM,” Trump added in his Truth Social post, suggesting that agencies themselves are fraudulent rather than legitimate government functions he disagrees with.
This framing echoes Project 2025’s approach to federal agencies. The blueprint advocates eliminating or drastically restructuring agencies viewed as obstacles to conservative policy implementation, including the Department of Education, the Environmental Protection Agency, and various independent regulatory bodies.
Vought has already demonstrated willingness to target agencies based on political criteria. On Wednesday, he announced cancellation of nearly $8 billion in climate funding across 16 states – every one of which voted against Trump in 2024 and is represented by two Democratic senators. He also froze $18 billion in infrastructure funding to New York, represented by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and former presidential candidate Kirsten Gillibrand.
The pattern is explicit: agencies, programs, and funding that support Democratic priorities or constituencies get targeted for elimination. The shutdown provides justification for implementing cuts that would require congressional approval under normal circumstances.
What Project 2025 Actually Proposes and Why Trump Denied It
Project 2025’s “Mandate for Leadership” runs nearly 900 pages and includes detailed recommendations for every federal agency. Key proposals include:
- Reclassifying tens of thousands of civil service employees as political appointees who can be fired at will
- Eliminating the Department of Education and transferring functions to states
- Drastically reducing EPA enforcement and regulatory authority
- Restructuring independent agencies to increase presidential control
- Expanding presidential authority to refuse spending congressionally appropriated funds
- Implementing conservative social policies across government programs
During the campaign, these proposals became ammunition for Democrats arguing Trump would abuse presidential power if returned to office. Trump’s repeated denials were designed to neutralize that attack by creating distance between himself and the specific recommendations.
But the denials were always implausible. Trump appointed Project 2025 architects to his first administration. His policy priorities aligned with the blueprint’s recommendations. And Vance literally wrote the foreword praising the project as essential reading for the conservative movement.
Trump denied association because it was politically convenient during the campaign. Now that he’s won and needs to implement his agenda, the denials are no longer useful. Vought’s Project 2025 connection has become something Trump celebrates rather than hides.
The Mass Firings That Are “Likely Going to Be in the Thousands”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Thursday that federal workforce cuts are “likely going to be in the thousands.” The White House has already compiled a target list of agencies, with announcements possible as early as this weekend.
Vought told House Republicans privately that “consequential” layoffs would begin within “a day or two.” Those layoffs will target agencies that “don’t align with the president’s values,” according to Leavitt – which means agencies implementing programs Trump opposes regardless of congressional authorization.
This is Project 2025’s civil service restructuring in action. The blueprint advocates replacing career civil servants with political appointees loyal to presidential priorities rather than institutional obligations. The shutdown provides cover for implementing those terminations without normal due process protections.
Trump was explicit Tuesday about who faces firing risk: “They are going to be Democrats.”
When pressed on whether the administration would target federal workers based on political affiliation, Vice President Vance refused to answer directly while claiming the administration isn’t “targeting federal agencies based on politics.”
But Vought’s funding freezes exclusively hit blue states. The agency target list focuses on institutions viewed as advancing Democratic priorities. And Trump himself stated the firings will affect Democrats. The political targeting isn’t subtle or deniable – it’s the stated strategy.
Why Harris’s Warning Matters More Than Campaign Rhetoric
During the 2024 campaign, Harris warned repeatedly that Trump would implement Project 2025 regardless of his denials. Those warnings were dismissed as partisan fearmongering by Trump supporters and treated as campaign hyperbole by much of the media.
Harris’s Thursday statement – “This was always the plan” – isn’t campaign rhetoric anymore. It’s documented reality. Trump is openly bragging about meeting with Project 2025’s architect to implement the blueprint he spent months claiming he knew nothing about.
The specifics Harris warned about are happening in real time:
- Mass federal workforce terminations based on political criteria
- Elimination of agencies viewed as obstacles to conservative policy
- Expansion of presidential power over independent institutions
- Use of crisis moments to implement changes that would normally require congressional approval
- Targeting of Democratic constituencies and programs for funding cuts
Every element of the Project 2025 blueprint that Democrats warned about during the campaign is being implemented during Trump’s second term. The only difference is Trump has stopped pretending it’s not happening.
The “Unprecedented Opportunity” That Reveals the Strategy
Trump’s characterization of the shutdown as an “unprecedented opportunity” Democrats gave him exposes how he views governing. Budget impasses that disrupt government services and hurt federal workers aren’t problems to solve – they’re opportunities to restructure government according to his preferences.
“I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity,” Trump wrote. “They are not stupid people, so maybe this is their way of wanting to, quietly and quickly, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
The suggestion that Democrats are secretly hoping Trump will dismantle agencies and fire thousands of federal workers is obviously absurd. But it reveals Trump’s mindset: any obstacle to his agenda – including legitimate congressional oversight and budget negotiations – is either enemy action or secret assistance depending on which framing serves his purposes.
The shutdown happened because Democrats refused to accept Republican funding terms that excluded ACA subsidy extensions and reversed Medicaid reforms. That’s normal legislative negotiation. Trump is treating it as justification for permanently eliminating agencies without congressional authorization.
That’s not how separated powers are supposed to function. Congress creates agencies and appropriates funds. Presidents execute congressional directives. Shutdowns happen when Congress can’t agree on appropriations – not when presidents get authority to eliminate whatever they want.
But Trump is testing whether anyone will stop him from using shutdown leverage to implement Project 2025’s restructuring agenda regardless of constitutional limits on presidential power.
What Happens When Presidents Stop Pretending
The most significant aspect of Trump’s Thursday post isn’t the policy specifics or the targeting of Democratic agencies. It’s the abandonment of pretense about what he’s doing and why.
Trump no longer pretends Project 2025 isn’t his blueprint. He brags about Vought’s connection to it. He characterizes federal agencies as political scams. He celebrates opportunities to eliminate programs Democrats support. He’s explicit about targeting Democrats for termination.
That honesty clarifies what’s at stake. This isn’t normal presidential administration of government programs. It’s deliberate dismantling of institutions viewed as political opponents. It’s using crisis moments to implement changes that couldn’t survive normal legislative processes. It’s expansion of presidential power beyond constitutional limits.
Harris warned this would happen. Trump denied it would happen. Now Trump is bragging that it’s happening while claiming Democrats secretly want it to happen.
The pretense is gone. The implementation is underway. And the “Democrat Agencies” Trump wants to eliminate are about to discover whether constitutional protections and congressional authority mean anything when a president decides they don’t.
Vought has his target list. Trump has given him authority to execute it. And Project 2025 – the blueprint Trump spent months insisting he knew nothing about – is being implemented “right in front of our eyes.”
Harris was right. The people who believed Trump’s denials were wrong. And the federal agencies on Vought’s list will find out this weekend whether being labeled a “Democrat Agency” is enough justification for elimination regardless of congressional authorization or constitutional constraints.
Trump stopped pretending he’s not implementing Project 2025. Now we’ll see whether anyone can stop him from finishing what he’s started.
He better not I'll drop him