Project 2025 Is Real. And It’s Happening Now
Part VIII - The Scheme - Purge the Government
The Heritage Foundation president, Kevin Roberts, described the 920-page Project 2025 plan as a "second American Revolution -- bloodless if the Left allows it to be!" Last August, I described those plans in a post, [The 2025 Plan To Takeover Government](https://patrickmcnamara.substack.com/p/the-2025-plan-to-takeover-government). In this video, David A. Graham, staff writer at The Atlantic, talks with Katie Couric about his best selling book[1] and how the Trump Administration is rapidly using the Project 2025 plan to radically change the US government and American democracy.
Following are selected parts of an AI summary of this YT video (with links) prepared by a new app, Recall AI, which I am finding very useful and convenient.[2] Two other books for reference are listed below.[3][4]
Four Main Goals of Project 2025
Project 2025 has four main goals, including restoring the family as the centerpiece of American life and protecting children, which involves abolishing the Department of Education, giving parents and religious organizations more control over education, banning abortion nationwide, and defining sex as male and female (00:08:25).
The project aims to use the federal government as a coercive force to build the society its proponents want, which is a departure from the traditional Republican idea of limited government, and its goals are outlined in a way that feels like a backlash against progressive or liberal thinking (00:07:46).
The project's proponents, including Russell Vought and Paul Dans, do not believe in the separation of church and state, and instead think that the US is a Christian nation that should be governed as such, with Christianity playing a central role in public life (00:09:57).
Another goal of Project 2025 is to dismantle the administrative state, which refers to the executive branch and its hundreds of thousands of civil servants, and return self-governance to the American people, by giving the president full control over the executive branch and laying off or converting civil servants to political appointees (00:10:23).
The project's proponents, such as Russell Vought, have spoken about their reaction to the changes in society and their desire to reclaim America for Christianity, with Vought stating that he is a Christian nationalist and believes that the US should be a Christian nation (00:10:13).
The project's goals are outlined in a way that suggests a significant shift in the role of government and the relationship between church and state, with a focus on promoting traditional values and limiting the power of the federal government, except when it comes to promoting the project's own goals and ideology (00:08:03).
Long-Term Vision and Impact
Project 2025 has a paternalistic attitude and incorporates inherent racism, with policies that may have a disparate impact on certain communities, particularly poor black communities (00:19:41).
The project's architects have a long-term plan that goes beyond Trump's presidency, aiming to make changes that will be difficult to reverse, such as reducing the size of the government and reorienting its focus (00:23:00).
The plan includes policies that may seem reasonable at first, such as encouraging birth rates and providing childcare support, but the implementation and prescriptions may be problematic, and some ideas may crossover with those of the left (00:24:31).
Understanding Project 2025 is the first step to responding to it, but figuring out how to stop or reverse its implementation is a complex and vast topic that requires rethinking what American government should be like (00:27:02).
Key Players and Implementation
Elon Musk is seen as a vessel for the architects of Project 2025, working closely with Russell Vought to achieve their goals, and they approve of his actions (00:29:04).
The architects of Project 2025 aim to replace federal employees with loyalists who pass a litmus test for their religious beliefs and loyalty to Donald Trump, which could lead to a significant shift in the government's ideology (00:30:28).
Project 2025 proposes drastic tax cuts, elimination of federal regulations, and a massive reduction in the federal workforce, but also includes initiatives that would require significant funding and administration, potentially replacing one bureaucracy with another (00:33:13).
The Dark Side of Christian Nationalism
Christian nationalism has a dark side, which includes telling people how to live, shutting down abortion rights, pushing women towards motherhood, discouraging divorce, and promoting schools that teach biblical principles over evolution (00:16:50).
The ideology of Christian nationalism is popular among people who feel like they are losing status in society, such as white men who feel like they don't have the same kind of status they once did, and Christians who feel persecuted, and Donald Trump's appeal is core to this vision (00:17:51).
Project 2025 resonates with people who are willing to follow a plan that offers a vision of a society that is based on Christian values, but the details of the plan may not be as popular among these people (00:17:36).
The appeal of Christian nationalism is often emotional, based on the idea that something has been taken away from people, and that things need to be put back the way they were, but the specifics of what that means are often left vague (00:18:34).
The concept of "make America great again" is often cloaked in vagueness, as explicitly stating a desire to return to a time before the Civil Rights Act would be unpopular, and this vagueness is a key aspect of the rhetoric surrounding Project 2025 (00:19:07).
Trump's Role and the Long-Term Vision
The relationship between Donald Trump and the policies outlined in Project 2025 is seen as symbiotic, with Trump gaining a loyal staff and a policy agenda, and the authors of the document gaining a vessel for their ideas and a means to achieve their goals (00:22:28).
The architects of Project 2025 view Trump as a means to achieve their long-term goals, which extend far beyond his presidency, and are willing to make significant changes to the government that will be difficult to reverse, regardless of future election outcomes (00:22:50).
The first 100 days and the first two years before the midterms are considered crucial in implementing their plan, with the goal of making irreversible changes, such as eliminating thousands of federal jobs, shutting down programs, and ending climate change research (00:23:13).
The plan aims to create a smaller, reoriented government, which will be inherited by the next president, and will have to grapple with the consequences of these changes, including brain drain and the loss of experienced personnel (00:23:27).
Replacing Federal Workers and the Supreme Court's Role
The replacement of federal workers will require a litmus test for religious beliefs and loyalty to Donald Trump, with true believers and longtime MAGA supporters being chosen, as seen in the past where people were questioned about their jobs and beliefs, such as whether they believed the 2020 election was stolen (00:30:28).
The architects of Project 2025 aim to push their actions to the Supreme Court, testing the limits of the law, and believing that the conservative majority will rule in their favor, overturning 95 years of precedent, as they think the Supreme Court will be allies in their goals (00:30:58).
The judiciary branch is viewed as having lower importance, with the architects of Project 2025 focusing on the Supreme Court, which they see as a means to achieve favorable rulings and work towards their desired society, with some uncertainty about how the Supreme Court will respond to their actions (00:31:25).
The Supreme Court's response to Project 2025's actions is uncertain, with some justices likely to agree with Donald Trump's actions and others likely to oppose them, leaving the middle-ground justices, such as John Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett, as crucial in determining the outcome, and their decisions will be closely watched (00:32:30).
The right has worked to install judges who will work along with their goals, and any deviation from this expectation is seen as disloyalty, with an implicit idea that the judiciary should listen to the president, rather than being an independent check, which is a concerning development (00:32:41).
The Need for Understanding and Response
Project 2025 is happening at full speed, with only 13% of people in America approving of it, and many are wondering how to stop or reverse its course, especially since significant damage is expected to be done in the first two years of the current administration (00:26:45).
Understanding Project 2025 is the first step in addressing the issue, but it is a challenging question to answer, and even understanding it may not provide clear solutions, as many people, including Democrats, have been caught off guard by recent events (00:27:02).
The importance of understanding Project 2025 extends to all citizens, regardless of their stance on the issue, as it is crucial for being an informed American citizen and preparing for the future (00:27:25).
The document outlining Project 2025 contains a vast amount of information, and figuring out how to respond to it is a complex topic that may require a separate exploration, such as a potential sequel to the book (00:27:58).
The changes brought about by Project 2025 are expected to be permanent, and the country will not be able to revert to its pre-Project 2025 state, necessitating a reevaluation of what the American government should be like (00:28:10).
[The Project: How Project 2025 Is Reshaping America - Kindle edition by Graham, David A.](https://www.amazon.com/Project-How-2025-Reshaping-America-ebook/dp/B0DTNPDHSW?ref_=ast_author_dp)
[I've been using Recall. Give it a try for free.](https://www.getrecall.ai?token=mMJSocfA)
[Project 2025 : Unmasking The Threat To American Democracy - Kindle edition by Reed , Taylor . Politics & Social Sciences Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DCDLV3JF)
[Project 2025 Exposed: Trump’s Mandate for Leadership and the Conservative Promise That Could Change America Forever - Kindle edition by Day, Bruno. Politics & Social Sciences Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DY1ZSC6M)
