In a Truth Social post on July 5, 2024, the then Republican nominee for president said he had “no idea who is behind Project 2025.”
Despite denying knowing the people behind the nearly 900-page manifesto — published in April 2023 by the conservative Heritage Foundation — nearly half of the objectives in Project 2025 have already been achieved since President Donald Trump took office in January.
As a blueprint intended to assist the next conservative president in reshaping the federal government, Project 2025, or rather its supporters, must be rather pleased with how things are progressing.
More than six months since the regime change in the White House, the conservative plan is 47% complete, according to the website Project 2025 Tracker, which bills itself as a “comprehensive, community-driven initiative to track the implementation of Project 2025’s policy proposals.”
As for the remainder — an estimated 138 proposals — those have not been abandoned. In fact, they’re allegedly on the president’s list of “things to do.”
Slowly, Americans appear to be waking up and seeing this decades-long plan for what it is and has always been: a strategic plan to reshape the government and remove portions of the Constitution so that only a few reap the benefits of citizenship.
Now what? Nationwide protests like the recent No Kings rallies may have made headline news, but they’re not enough. Protests and collective action must continue and moreover, the ballot is the most effective way to voice discontent and every vote counts.
Even more, every American needs to become more aware of what’s really happening. That may mean ignoring the distractions that are intentionally and daily dispersed out of the White House. And yes, that also means we may need to curtail our time on social media, playing tag on TikTok and engaging in “I see” you on Instagram. Because if we don’t know what’s going on, there’s no way to slow things down, much less stop them.
Many of the goals listed in Project 2025 are unconstitutional, but if we don’t hold Congress accountable, more items will undoubtedly be checked off as “completed.” Meanwhile, Congress has shown us who they are, and as Maya Angelou told students at Wellesley College in 1997, “when someone shows you who they are, believe them.”
The news can be exhausting, relentless and discouraging, but if we want a better world for ourselves and our children, we cannot hide our heads in the sand.
When Benjamin Franklin was asked after the end of the Constitutional Convention on Sept. 17, 1787, “What have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” Franklin responded, “A republic, if you can keep it.”
The question today remains: Can we keep it?