Donald Trump And Project 2025: Will The Future Of America Be A Return To The Ugly Past?

“With Trump in the White House, social conservatives can use executive action to try to ban abortion; MAGA nationalists can end most forms of immigration, commence mass deportations and leverage civil rights laws against imagined “anti-white” discrimination; and reactionary opponents of social insurance can weaken Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. And this is to say nothing of Trump’s own plans to rule as an autocrat under a court-sanctioned theory of unitary executive authority.” – Jamelle Bouie Project 2025, the sweeping extremist policy agenda assembled by Donald Trump’s supporters, allies, and veterans of his administration, is deeply unpopular with the American people. As a candidate, Trump’s response was to feign ignorance. During his Sept. 10 debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, he claimed he hadn’t even read it. What he didn’t say was whether or not he supported the alarming proposals it contains, or whether he would implement them as President. In fact, at least 270 of the proposals in Project 2025 match Trump’s own past policies, previous actions, or current campaign promises. Key to the agenda is a drastic overhaul of the federal government, purging it of conscientious civil servants and replacing them with Trump loyalists. Trump began that process late in his last term with Executive Order 13957, also known as Schedule F.  “Schedule F would be the most profound change to the civil service system since its creation in 1883,” Georgetown political scientist Don Moynihan wrote in the New York Times.  It would be “a catastrophe for government performance” and for democracy, he said. Trump’s term ended before he could implement Schedule F, and President Biden quickly rescinded it when he took office. Trump has vowed to reissue the order immediately and wield the power it gives him “very aggressively.” Civil servants deemed disloyal already have been compiled. With a federal workforce who will place loyalty to Trump over loyalty to the Constitution, Trump will be free to implement a radical, extremist agenda that will obliterate racial justice initiatives and preserve advantages for white Americans. The next Trump administration will use civil rights laws to counter the imaginary forces of “anti-white racism.” Trump has bragged that his administration banned “critical race theory” – a misnomer he and his allies have slapped on virtually any racial justice initiative – and promised to “finish the job.” Project 2025 calls for using the Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute institutions, including private employers, with diversity, equity, and inclusion policies in place. Trump’s policies also align with Project 2025 on the issue of immigration and the border. Trump has promised to “close the border” on day one of his administration and begin mass deportations” of the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the United States without authorization. Project 2025 outlines various methods for facilitating those deportations, from requiring the cooperation of local law enforcement to authorizing “tent camps” to detain migrants. Aside from the devastating human cost of tearing families apart, mass deportations and border closures will wreak havoc on the economy. The  American Immigration Council estimates the deportations would result in a 4.2% to 6.8% reduction in GDP.  By comparison, GDP fell by 4.3%. during the Great Recession of 2007-2009. Closing the southern border would cost tens of billions of dollars per day,” the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has estimated. The Heritage Foundation, which spearheaded Project 2025, also created a “Mandate for Leadership” during Trump’s first term. Within two years, Trump had embraced nearly  two-thirds of that agenda. With a hyper-politicized, extreme right-wing cabinet, federal workforce, and judiciary, Trump can go even further in his second term.