The controversial “Project 2025” that has ruffled a few feathers has apparently been shelved, with the stepping down of Paul Dans, who oversaw the project on behalf of the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation.
Project 2025 – A Primer: The project, outlined in a 900+ page document, was put forward by a broad coalition of conservative organizations, spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation, anticipating ahead a change of guard and preparing for a successful administration that would begin in Jan. 2025.
Although Project 2025 is not promoted as a bipartisan plan, Trump’s official campaign plan called Agenda47 aligns with several proposals in Project 2025.
The Democrats strongly oppose the project, stating that implementation of the policy will only serve to create a country for some and not for all. In its analysis of the policy playbook, Democracy Forward, a Washington-based non-profit and non-partisan public policy research organization, said it sees the project as a “systemic, ruthless plan to undermine the quality of life of millions of Americans, remove critical protections and dismantle programs for communities across the nation, and prioritize special interests and ideological extremism over people.”
Some of the proposals of the plan that received backlash include:
- Eliminating federal agencies like the Department of Education, the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Reserve as well as privatizing some such as the Transportation Security Agency
- Expanding presidential control over the executive branch.
- Withdrawing abortion pill mifepristone from the market, prohibiting funding for patients traveling across states for reproductive healthcare and prohibiting funding for healthcare centers providing abortions
- Cutting aid for R&D in renewable energy, and promoting oil and natural gas
- Eliminating preventive climate-change initiatives, and replacing carbon-reduction goals, while increasing the use of fossil fuel in a bid to promote energy security
- Cutting and restricting the use of food stamps and social welfare programs, creating more eligibility requirements for Medicaid, creating a two-rate individual tax system of 15% and 30%, reducing the corporate income tax rate, cutting rates for high-income investors and canceling federal student loan forgiveness programs.
- Immediately deporting unaccompanied children, increased funding for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, for the implementation of fees for asylum seekers
See Also: Would Project 2025 Abolish The Federal Reserve? What About Reinstituting The Gold Standard?
What Soured? As Democrats capitalized on the public opinion against the proposals, the Trump campaign quietly strived to dissociate itself from Project 2025. In a Truth Social post on July 5, the ex-president said, “I know nothing about Project 2025.
“I have no idea who is behind it. I disagree with some of the things they're saying and some of the things they're saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal,” he said.
The Trump campaign was already unhappy with the Heritage Foundation projecting itself as the former’s mouthpiece and over-inviting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who was pitched against Trump in the Republican primaries, to talk on multiple occasions, said The Economist.
The resignation of Dans is another signal that the project may be officially off the tables for now.
Former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci said this could be a defensive more from part of Trump’s campaign and could return when his positioning strengthens. “Guys we were just kidding our full on rascist fascist movement (Project 2025) isn't popular so we are going to pretend it doesn't exist,” he said in a post, referring to the likely mood among the GOP camp.
“The lies will continue until morale improves. Trump is going to lose the election,” he said.
Will Billionaire Boys Back Off: Many of the richest business leaders, entrepreneurs and fund managers have recently thrown their weight behind the Republicans and Trump. Tesla CEO Elon Musk who floods X, the social-media platform he owns, with far-right views, publicly endorsed the former president immediately after the Pennsylvania rally shooting. Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman followed in his footsteps soon after.
Even ahead of the positive developments for Trump, Silicon Valley entrepreneur David Sacks has been mobilizing support for Trump among his peers and fellow businessmen and even organized a fundraiser. Fellow venture capitalist and entrepreneur Peter Thiel, the name behind the founding of successful ventures such as PayPal and Palantir Technologies, is also a Trumper.
Delving into the pulling point, Scaramucci said Trump’s seemingly pro-business policies and the billionaires’ desire to align with the one with the higher success probability could have been the motive. He has a word of warning for them. “It is a brand of anarcho-Christian populism, which borders on fascism; it is a very dangerous time for the United States,” Scaramucci said.
Did You Know?
- Congress Is Making Huge Investments. Get Tips On What They Bought And Sold Ahead Of The 2024 Election With Our Easy-to-Use Tool
Image via Shutterstock
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Comments
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.
