If you’re not sure why Project 2025 matters, here’s an easy explainer.

Knowledge is power, especially in a democracy. Get yours.

Here are some important questions and answers about Project 2025, also called the Presidential Transition Project.

As always, you can choose whether to read this newsletter with your eyes, or with your ears, by hitting the play button at the top.

Remember, there’s a REALLY CUTE DOG at the end.

(Back up! Who is writing this and why? Find out here.)

What is Project 2025?

It’s a VERY in-depth (about 900 pages!) book of right-wing policy proposals for the federal government, as well as plans to make sure the government hires and trains only people who will faithfully carry out those polices. Some people say this is an attempted coup (a government takeover) and I think they’re right. Many of the proposals are so extreme that even some high-profile Republicans do not want them to happen.

Would this really change the government?

Yup. Project 2025 wants to give a lot more power to the President, and less power to Congress. It also would change the staffing of our federal government from non-political workers with special skills to people whose top qualification is that they will always say “yes” to the President. This is a bad idea, no matter who the President is. It’s not just a matter of what laws to pass. Project 2025 would change the way our government has worked since the Constitution was first written.

Image: A photo of the original US Constitution, full of tiny slanting ink cursive on yellowing paper, with the big words “We the People” at the top. Photo via Wikimedia Commons

Did the current Trump campaign create Project 2025?

Nope. The Heritage Foundation did. The Heritage Foundation is a huge, influential institution that promotes right-wing policies, like ending social services, banning abortion and making it very hard to get birth control, denying the rights of queer and trans people, pressuring everyone to get married (only to someone of the opposite sex!) and stay married no matter what, and forcing Christianity on our government and public schools. They want the federal government to do as little as possible for ordinary people. Project 2025 calls for all these things, and much more.

What does Project 2025 have to do with the 2024 election?

When Trump won in 2016, a lot of people on both sides were like…shocked face. Trump stumbled into office and gave us four chaotic years. This time, powerful right-wing groups are predicting Trump will win, and they’re ready to use him to get what they want, starting on January 20, 2025 and continuing as long as the country lasts, because they will have gotten rid of anyone who can say no, and changed the way the government works.

Image: Pro-Trump rioters outside the US Capitol on January 2, 2021, with a view from inside the crowd looking at the domed Capitol building swarmed with rioters, many wearing red hats, waving Trump flags and US flags. Photo by Tyler Merbler, via Wikimedia Commons.

Will the Trump administration really do what Project 2025 says?

The Heritage Foundation already brags that the previous Trump administration used the policies they suggested more than half the time. The first director of the Presidential Transition Project, Paul Dans, is a powerful lawyer who has already worked for Trump. He was the chief of staff in the US Office of Personnel Management during the Trump administration, so managing federal workers—key to Project 2025—is his specialty. He has since stepped down as director, but the project continues.

Some people—even some Republicans—say Project 2025 is just a wish list and Trump won’t use it. But we’re already pretty far down the path that Project 2025 wants us to take: abortion is banned in about a third of the country; state legislatures are making bold new laws about teaching Christianity in public schools, as well as passing many laws that hurt trans people; and the Supreme Court has just ruled that US Presidents don’t have to follow the law like the rest of us do. They can now take bribes, make threats, or deny election results, as long as it’s part of their “official duty.”

In early July, Trump claimed that he doesn’t know what Project 2025 is, or who wrote it. These are lies, like a lot of what he says. His campaign is just nervous because they see that Project 2025 is VERY unpopular with most people. When the Heritage Foundation claims that they want to help ANY President, not just Trump, or Republican party leaders say that they are not interested in Project 2025, do not believe them. They only want to fool us. The Heritage Foundation was a big presence at this year’s Republican National Convention. The people who wrote Project 2025 are always bragging about how past Republican presidents have used tons of their suggestions, and Trump will use them, too.

Image: Donald Trump takes his Presidential oath in 2017. He places his hand on a book held by his wife Melania, who wears a sky-blue dress and coat. Trump wears a black suit and a red tie that is too long, and he has a serious expression. Photo courtesy of the White House, via Wikimedia Commons.

Trump has repeatedly shown us that he has no morals. He’s interested in being famous, making money, and staying out of jail for the many state and federal indictments he’s facing (for alleged crimes before, during, and after his presidency). Do you think he’ll say no to taking even more power for himself, instead of sharing it with Congress, federal employees, and you? Do you think he will make his own policies, after listening to what YOU want? Or will he give the Heritage Foundation the keys to the White House so he can go golfing and hold rallies?

You can stop that from happening.

The Heritage Foundation and its friends have not taken over our government. Yet. On November 5, it’s important to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris. She will do a much better job of saying no to the Heritage Foundation, maintaining the separation of powers in our Constitution, and keeping our democracy going.

Spread the word to your friends and keep everyone motivated to vote.

It’s time for Ginny!

Congrats! You made it.

Image: Ginny the scruffy 11-pound chihuahua mix sits on a man’s lap on a backyard patio. She wears a tiny blue sweatshirt and there are human eclipse-viewing glasses balanced on her face. She looks very cool and calm. Photo by Alaina Johns.

P.S. Why do I describe what is in the pictures?

That’s because a lot of people are blind or have low vision. But they still read things on the Internet like everyone else, using screen readers. The text lets them know what is in the pictures. That way nobody is left out. The Internet should be accessible to everyone.