Project 2025: Words that sound good, but are they?

Submitted art

Media pundits have proclaimed conservatives wanted Project 2025, and since they won the 2024 presidential election, I wanted to understand it. I found it easy to research the Project 2025 site.

I learned it was written by many conservative writers and scholars until 2023, when it was published by the Heritage Foundation. The Koch brothers are directors of that foundation. Project 2025 is 900 pages long and is entitled, “Mandate for Leadership.” There’s a summary of the goals at the beginning of the project and how to achieve the goals are explained within the body.

After my research, I had questions about some of the goals listed. Here’s why I think the words sound reasonable, but their intent escapes me:

Project 2025 goal: “Secure the border, complete the wall, and deport all aliens.”
Before this election: Congress created a bipartisan immigration bill passed by the Senate in 2023. It was a comprehensive plan, led by a Republican senator, that would have solved the complex problems in our immigration system. Conservatives didn’t pass it. It’s still there and could be voted on anytime.

Project 2025 goal: “De-weaponize the Federal Government by increasing accountability and oversight of the FBI and DOJ.”
Before this election: The FBI and DOJ are made up of citizens from both parties, and their mandate is to be impartial. They are accountable. They send their findings to the attorney general, who is accountable to the president and subject to oversight by Congress. The FBI is also subject to judicial review, meaning that courts can review the legality and appropriateness of its actions. Finally, the DOJ has internal oversight with the offices of Professional Responsibility and the Office of the Inspector General, both of which can investigate allegations of misconduct within the FBI and DOJ.

Project 2025 goal: “Unleash American energy production to reduce energy prices.”
Before this election: The price of oil and gas is largely determined by global supply and demand. The U.S. has been the world’s leading oil producer for the past six years, surpassing Saudi Arabia and Russia. There are environmental issues in the production of fossil fuels, too, and not considered in the project.

Project 2025 goal: “Cut the growth of government spending to reduce inflation.”
Before this election: Cutting growth of an agency isn’t quite the same as cutting out civil service jobs. We pool our taxes for services we can’t pay for as individuals. If we no longer need an agency, then Congress can discuss it and vote on it. That’s the law. And Congress is the branch of government in charge of spending our tax money.

Project 2025 goal: “Make federal bureaucrats more accountable to the democratically elected President and Congress.”
Before this election: “Bureaucrats” — citizens who work in government agencies — do jobs Congress decided we need. Government agencies are accountable to Congress and can be cut anytime Congress deems they’re no longer necessary. If the president doesn’t think an agency is needed, he can bring it to Congress for a vote anytime.

Project 2025 goal: “Improve education by moving control and funding of education from DC bureaucrats directly to parents and state and local governments.”
Before this election: Public education is already run locally. Homeowners fund the schools and citizens volunteer to serve on a school board that decides all curriculum, as well as all rules and regulations. Only private, for-profit schools decide curriculum with no input from parents allowed.

Project 2025 goal: "Ban biological males from competing in women’s sports.”
Before this election: Teams or sports make their own rules. Local teams make their own decisions about the make-up of their team. Coaches get to choose, as do professional sports owners.

What I see happening over the past few weeks doesn’t sound like the altruistic goals as published in Project 2025. Instead, it looks like corporate monopolies got together and raised prices prior to the election, knowing that people suffering from high prices always blame the current administration, even though government doesn’t set prices, corporations do.

With the election of the present government, corporations won safety restrictions removed and lower taxes.

It also looks to me like President Trump is following the published handbook dictators have used to gain power and wealth. That strategy is to gain control of national finances and banking, control energy and public utilities, privatize all public services, control communication, the military and manufacture of arms, outlaw unions and control the courts.

I sure hope that I’m wrong, but so far it doesn’t look like we’re getting better living conditions we voted for with better prices and less political chaos. But it’s America. We can vote again, I hope.

Editor’s note: Women’s Watch is a cooperative writing effort of the local chapters of the American Association of University Women, the League of Women Voters and the National Organization for Women. This piece was authored by a writer using a pen name. Please send your comments to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.