New research on how Americans perceive Project 2025, an initiative developed by the conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation, has been published by a progressive group that opposes it.
Project 2025 essentially outlines an overhaul of the federal government. It was designed in the hopes of being implemented if Donald Trump wins reelection in November—though the former president has denied associations with it.
On July 5, Trump posted on Truth Social: “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.”
Multiple Democrats have pushed back on Trump’s disavowal, with a spokesperson for the Democratic National Committee saying, “Many of Trump’s closest former White House aides are leading the project.”
In its first of three releases, which was published on Monday, Navigator found that seven in 10 Americans did not know enough about the project to have an opinion on it, while four in five Americans said they had never heard about it.
The report said the general view of people who support Project 2025 is that it “represents the next conservative Republican president’s last chance to save the republic, rescuing the country from the grip of the radical left through the right governing agenda and the right leadership.”
People against the project generally say Project 2025 “is an extreme Republican plan that will give the president new and unchecked powers over federal agencies, eliminate abortion access, and roll back action on climate change, LGBTQ+ rights, and other areas,” the report said.
Navigator said that “as people learn more about Project 2025, their opposition to it grows.” It found that after “learning more about the policies in Project 2025 and reading negative messaging about the plan,” independents’ support decreased from 10 percent to 6 percent, and their opposition increased from 25 percent to 72 percent. It is important to note that this was a specific goal of Navigator.
The report said Democrats and independents who were against Project 2025 were worried it would “threaten American rights and freedoms,” while “non-MAGA Republicans” who were against it were worried it would “hurt the middle class and working families.”
The Project 2025 website says it is a “2025 Presidential Transition Project,” with a goal of building on “four pillars that will, collectively, pave the way for an effective conservative administration: a policy agenda, personnel, training, and a 180-day playbook.”
The project also proposes removing civil service employment protections for all federal employees with “policy-determining, policymaking, or policy-advocating” in their job titles.
After replacing the civil service, the project proposes the implementation of other conservative policies—such as eliminating the Department of Education; reducing the scope of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security; and rolling back renewable-energy programs to create a regulatory environment that favors the fossil fuel industry. The project also seeks to remove all diversity, equity and inclusion hiring policies from federal programs.
A spokesperson for Project 2025 previously told: “As we’ve been saying for more than two years now, Project 2025 does not speak for any candidate or campaign.
“We are a coalition of more than 110 conservative groups advocating policy and personnel recommendations for the next conservative president. But it is ultimately up to that president, who we believe will be President Trump, to decide which recommendations to implement.”