September 1, 2024

If you watched the Sept. 10 presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican candidate Donald Trump, you probably heard Harris reference Project 2025, which she called a “detailed and dangerous plan” that Trump would surely implement if he is wins the Nov. 5 election.

The 900-page plan, crafted by the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank, calls for mass deportations, blocking abortion access, severely limiting voting access and ending climate change protections, among other sweeping changes.

Trump has attempted to distance himself from Project 2025, but according to CNN, as many as 140 people who worked in the Trump administration worked on Project 2025—and more than half of those people are listed as authors, editors and contributors.

You can read the full Project 2025 report, titled “Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise,” by clicking HERE.

A brief synopsis of Project 2025 is below.

Presidential powers expanded

The powers of the president would be consolidated and expanded under Project 2025 and, according to The Washington Post, the plan would “infuse Christian nationalism into every facet of government policy".

Department of Education eliminated

Project 2025 would impose extreme policy changes on public higher education. Under the plan, the Department of Education would be shuttered and federal education programs would be parceled out to other departments. Two examples: the department’s Civil Rights office would move to the Department of Justice while the Bureau of Indian Affairs would oversee tribal colleges and universities.

To “fully wind down” the Department of Education, Project 2025 mandates that Congress pass and the president sign its Department of Education Reorganizing Act into law.

Loan forgiveness gone

The plan would end federal loan forgiveness programs and overhaul the Office of Federal Student Aid. It would do away with loan forgiveness programs such as including borrower defense to repayment, closed school discharge and Public Service Loan Forgiveness. UUP members have had more than $13 million in federal student loans forgiven under PSLC.

Grad PLUS loans for graduate students and Parent PLUS loans for parents of undergraduates would also be abolished under Project 2025. Instead, students would be forced to obtain subsidized and unsubsidized loans from private lenders.

If that’s not possible, Project 2025 would consolidate all federal loan programs into a new program that would require income-driven repayment, prohibit interest rate subsidies or loan forgiveness and include “skin in the game” to keep colleges accountable.

LGBTQ+ protections rolled back

Title IX protections that make it easier for sexual assault victims to report sexual harassment and expand protections for LGBTQ+ students—put into place by the Biden administration earlier this year—would be eliminated.

Attacks on labor

Project 2025 also takes aim at the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association. The plan calls for the NEA to be stripped of its congressional charter because it is a “demonstrably radical special interest group that overwhelmingly supports left-of-center policies and policymakers.” Congress should also hold hearings about how much federal taxpayer money the NEA has used for political purposes.

More information: Project 2025 links

What follows below are links for more information about Project 2025:

• AFL-CIO: AFL-CIO Highlights the Anti-Worker Foundation of Trump’s Second-Term Agenda
• American Civil Liberties Union: Project 2025, Explained
• American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME): Trump’s ‘Project 2025’ would take away many of our hard-won rights and freedoms
• BBC: Project 2025: The right-wing wish list for another Trump presidency
• Brookings Institution: Project 2025 and education: A lot of bad ideas, some more actionable than others
• CBS News: What is Project 2025? What to know about the conservative blueprint for a second Trump administration
• Chalkbeat: Ending the U.S. Department of Education: What it would mean and why Trump and Project 2025 want it
• Communication Workers of America: Issue Brief: Project 2025
• Forbes: Project 2025 Explained: What To Know About Right-Wing Policy Map For Trump
• Inside Higher Ed: Project 2025 Would Radically Overhaul Higher Ed. Here’s How.
• New York Times: How Project 2025 Would Change the Country
• Washington Post: What is Project 2025?