In April 2023, the Heritage Foundation, a conservative advocacy think tank, released a new side project: Project 2025. Project 2025 is the latest rendition of the Mandate for Leadership, a detailed set of conservative-aligned policy recommendations for the president to follow that has a storied history with the oval office. It was first given to Ronald Reagan in 1981, and was provided to every president after until Barack Obama. Now, with a contentious presidential election just around the corner, the Heritage Foundation sees an opportunity to further their agenda. They claim they want to “make the country better”, but what exactly does that entail?
The 920 page document is broken down into five sections: taking the reins of government, the common defense, the general welfare, the economy, and independent regulatory agencies. It is really wordy, but there are some notable—and dangerous—mentions that are worth focusing on.
The flagship concern in this whole document is pervasive throughout the mandate: the idea of the “administrative state” that needs to be culled. They base this in the unitary executive theory, which proposes that the president has sole control over the executive branch.
In other words, federal departments—like the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Health and Human Services—would be dismantled, and their power would be given to the president. The writers claim this will make the government more accountable to the people. But will it? A quarter of Americans feel like neither party represents them. Systems like the electoral college inflate votes in swing states while diluting votes in established states. And that is assuming that Republicans aren’t funded by the wealthy elite, like they have been for years (see also).
If the next Republican president implements these changes, it will give them unprecedented power to enact sweeping changes to the country. For example, Russell Vought, an advisor for Project 2025, would seek to use the president’s power to further Christian nationalism, a flagrant violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution and religious liberty. Alongside heavily restricting and documenting abortions across the country (pg 316, pg 487), the plan would allow the legal discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity (see also: pg 495), and the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants by the millions.
Alongside the increased prevalence of far-right politics, such as Nazi flags outside of Disney and Micheal Knowles declaring that transgenderism must be eliminated from public life at the most popular republican convention in the country, this seems to be a blatant grab for power. And nobody will be safe if that comes to pass, regardless of whether or not you’re one of the primary targets.
History has shown that fascism does not simply appear out of nowhere and take power in some show of strength. It is more like a hidden poison, slowly crippling the affected country, all while couching itself in the idea that it represents order. Please, be aware of who you’re supporting and who you vote for, if you’re able to: for not only the country, but for yourself and your loved ones.
Below are some resources to learn more about the dangers of facism:
Full Text of Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 *read with caution; this document contains triggering open discussions of hate toward many groups
