The Project 2025 manifesto, championed by the Heritage Foundation, is facing increasing resistance from conservative groups that were initially part of its advisory board. This exodus includes organizations that had a hand in crafting the controversial document, which proposes policies ranging from outlawing pornography to withdrawing FDA approval for abortion medications.

Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, likened Project 2025 to a menu at the Cheesecake Factory, saying it offers a wide array of policy proposals. “It is impossible for every individual conservative to agree with everything in the document,” he told reporters at a Heritage event outside the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

However, many conservative groups are finding the extensive list of proposals hard to support. An investigation by The Intercept revealed that seven organizations have quietly exited the advisory board since the project’s inception two years ago. Among the recent defections is the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), a prominent think tank.

The Project 2025 website currently lists over 100 organizations as part of its coalition. However, a comparison of Heritage press releases, the Project 2025 playbook, and archived versions of the advisory board page shows significant attrition. In June 2022, Heritage announced an advisory board of 21 organizations for Project 2025. Three of these original members, including the now-defunct FreedomWorks and Stephen Miller’s America First Legal Foundation, are no longer listed.

FreedomWorks was the first to disappear from the advisory board page in February 2024, three months before it dissolved publicly. Despite its eventual closure, FreedomWorks continued policy advocacy until its final days. Former leaders did not respond to inquiries about their removal from the Project 2025 list.

The Competitive Enterprise Institute, another significant departure, was acknowledged in the Project 2025 playbook. CEI’s president and CEO, Kent Lassman, contributed a chapter, as did several other CEI staff members. Despite recent endorsements of their involvement in Project 2025, CEI’s logo was removed from the advisory board list by mid-March 2024.

In late March, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) was removed from the list. FDD, a hawkish foreign policy think tank, claimed it was included in error and quickly corrected the mistake once it was known.

The Discovery Institute, known for advocating “intelligent design” and “Judeo-Christian culture,” disappeared from the Project 2025 site in late June. The Discovery Institute did not respond to questions about their departure.

July saw a vocal exit from America First Legal, whose staff played significant roles in the Project 2025 playbook and training academy. More recently, Americans United for Life, an anti-abortion group, and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a Michigan-based think tank, requested to be removed from the advisory board. Both groups were first listed in a February 2024 press release and disappeared from the website between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday.

“Being listed on an advisory board indicated that we endorsed everything listed in the project, which was not the case,” said Holly Wetzel of the Mackinac Center. “We do not sign our name to things that we do not fully endorse.”

Despite these defections, Project 2025 continues to move forward with support from other conservative groups and individuals. The manifesto remains a contentious document, with its broad array of proposals reflecting a significant attempt to reshape conservative policy. However, the ongoing departures highlight the challenges of maintaining a unified front in such a diverse coalition.

As Project 2025 evolves, it will be crucial to monitor how remaining and future members reconcile their individual agendas with the comprehensive and controversial nature of the manifesto. The Heritage Foundation’s vision of a unified conservative movement may face further tests as more groups weigh the benefits of association against the potential fallout from controversial policy proposals.

Does Trump Support Project 2025?

Trump has recently stated that he knows nothing about Project 2025. His exat words were:

“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. Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them.”

But that’s not exactly true, is it?

In a speech delivered in Florida on April 21, 2022, former President Donald Trump praised the Heritage Foundation and its Project 2025 manifesto, calling it a “colossal mandate” that would “lay the groundwork for exactly what our movement will do” to “save America.” The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 is a comprehensive 922-page policy proposal designed to be implemented by the next Republican administration.

Trump’s comments came during a speech where he acknowledged the Heritage Foundation’s efforts and expressed confidence in the organization’s plans. He mentioned Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts and highlighted the collaborative work done with Heritage over his four years in office.

“Already we have shown the power of our winning formula, working closely with many of the great people at Heritage over the four incredible years that we’ve worked with you a lot,” Trump said.

He also referred to the Heritage Foundation as a “great group” and emphasized the importance of their detailed plans for the future.

Trump’s VP pick, J.D. Vance’s public Venmo account, has revealed his extensive network of connections, including the architects of Project 2025.

What is Project 2025?

Project 2025 is a detailed conservative policy agenda crafted by the Heritage Foundation, intended to serve as a blueprint for the next Republican administration. The proposal has drawn both praise and criticism, with supporters viewing it as a plan to restore government accountability to the people, and critics labeling it as an “authoritarian takeover of the United States.”

Kevin Roberts, the president of the Heritage Foundation, referred to the project as part of a “second American Revolution,” emphasizing the foundation’s commitment to implementing these policies. Project 2025 has become a focal point in political discourse, particularly among Democrats, who have used it as a talking point on the 2024 campaign trail.

Key Proposals in Project 2025

Project 2025 includes a wide range of policy directives, some of which are:

• Overhauling the Department of Justice and FBI, which the document labels as a “bloated bureaucracy.”
• Implementing Schedule F, a Trump-era executive order to reclassify and potentially replace thousands of government workers.
• Eliminating the Department of Education.
• Shutting down the EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights.
• Imposing restrictions on abortion access, including reversing federal approval of the abortion pill mifepristone.
• Allocating funding for the construction of additional border wall systems.
• Banning pornography and imprisoning those who produce or distribute it.
• Promoting “Sabbath Rest” by amending the Fair Labor Standards Act to require higher pay for work on Sundays.
• Encouraging “biblically based, social science reinforced” heterosexual marriages.
• Reversing the Biden administration’s focus on LGBTQ+ equity and subsidizing single-motherhood.
• Removing references to sexual orientation, gender identity, diversity, equity, inclusion, and gender equality from federal rules, regulations, or legislation.
• Reviving plans to open the National Petroleum Reserve of Alaska to leasing and development.