Radical plan from arch-conservative circles Trump wants key figures of "Project 2025" in the White House
During the election campaign, Trump said he knew nothing about "Project 2025", a plan to radically restructure the government. But its co-authors are to take on key positions in his government.
25.11.2024, 06:13
25.11.2024, 06:47
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- Before the election in the USA, "Project 2025" caused heated discussions.
- The eventual election winner Donald Trump praised the concept as a roadmap for "exactly what our movement will do" if he moves into the White House again.
- The Democrats spoke of planned tyranny.
- When the blueprint for a sharp shift to the right in America became a liability for him during the election campaign, Trump did an about-face and claimed to know nothing of the "ridiculous and abysmal" plans - some of which were written by his staff and allies from his first term.
- Now, after his election victory on November 5, Trump wants to fill key positions in his administration with key representatives of "Project 2025".
Before the election in the USA, "Project 2025" caused heated discussions. The eventual election winner Donald Trump praised the concept as a roadmap for "exactly what our movement will do" if he moves back into the White House. The Democrats spoke of planned tyranny. When the blueprint for a sharp shift to the right in America became a liability for him during the election campaign, Trump did an about-face and claimed to know nothing of the "ridiculous and abysmal" plans - some of which were written by his staff and allies from his first term.
"Project 2025" envisions the dismantling of parts of the US federal agencies and the firing of thousands of civil servants in favor of Trump loyalists who are supposed to implement a right-wing agenda without complaint. Now, after his election victory on November 5, Trump wants to fill important positions in his government with key representatives of "Project 2025".
Personnel decisions with far-reaching consequences
Three personnel decisions stand out in particular. Trump wants to bring back Russell Vought as Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Tom Homan, Trump's former head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), is to become top commissioner for border security ("border czar") and Stephen Miller - like Homan a hardliner on immigration - deputy head of political strategy.
Here's a look at what Trump's personnel decisions could mean:
The budget chief post is extremely important. The OMB director prepares the president's budget proposal and is generally responsible for implementing the government's agenda across departments and other agencies. Vought previously held the post under Trump. The Senate must confirm him.
As the author of a chapter for "Project 2025", Vought has made it clear that the current influence of the budget chief is not enough for him. The office must be given even more power, he demanded, writing: "The director must see his job as the best, most comprehensive alignment with the president's views." The OMB is a kind of "president's air traffic control system" and should be "involved in all aspects of the White House policy process". It needs enough power to be able to give instructions to government departments if necessary when implementing the president's agenda. "We're not going to save our country without a little confrontation," Vought said in a podcast in June.
Further concentration of power in the White House
The aim of further concentrating power in the White House runs like a common thread through the proposals of "Project 2025" - and through Trump's election campaign positions. Vought's ideas are particularly notable when considered in the context of Trump's ideas of drastically expanding presidential control over federal employees and government spending. These ideas are reflected in the creation of the "Office of Government Efficiency," headed by mega-billionaire Elon Musk and venture capitalist Vivek Ramaswamy.
Its mission could be based on the old, outdated constitutional theory that the president - not Congress - is the real guardian of federal spending. Trump himself endorsed the idea of "sequestration" in his campaign manifesto "Agenda 47". This states that Congress, when deciding on budget appropriations, only sets upper limits but does not set lower limits. The president, so the theory goes, could therefore simply decide not to spend money on something he deems unnecessary.
Vought did not address this theory in his chapter for "Project 2025". But he did write that "the president should use every tool possible" to impose fiscal discipline on the government. "Anything less would be a miserable failure."
Conservative government reorganization
Vought's nomination sparked prompt backlash. "Russ Vought is a far-right ideologue who has tried to break the law to give President Trump unilateral powers he doesn't have to override congressional spending decisions, (and) who has fought and will fight again to give Trump the ability to summarily fire tens of thousands of civil servants," said Democratic budget hawk and Senator Patty Murray.
Democratic House Representatives Jamie Raskin and Melanie Stansbury said Vought wanted to "dismantle the skilled federal workforce" to the detriment of Americans who rely on veterans' health care or Social Security benefits.
The personalities of Homan and Miller, in turn, show the overlap between Trump's positions and the ideas of "Project 2025" on immigration. Both aim to reintroduce the immigration restrictions from Trump's first term in office. The "Project 2025" contains a network of detailed proposals for various rules - including limiting the number of refugees, asylum seekers and recipients of work permits.
"America is for Americans and only for Americans"
"America is for Americans and only for Americans," said Millerer in October at Trump's election rally in New York's Madison Square Garden. He founded the group "America First Legal" as an ideological counterweight to the lawyers' civil rights organization American Civil Liberties Union. He was listed as a consultant for "Project 2025" until he asked for his name to be removed due to unwanted negative attention.
Homan, who is listed as a staffer for "Project 2025," played a key role in what became known as Trump's "family separation policy" - the tearing apart of parents and children - during his time as acting ICE chief. In July, looking ahead to a second Trump term, he said, "Nothing is off the table. If you're here illegally, you better be looking over your shoulder."