It’s that time of year when big-shot politicians clash over positions in Congress and the all-mighty role of the United States President. This time around, there’s a lot at stake. Former President Donald Trump has many feats planned for his presidency if the votes lean in his direction.
Donald Trump, current presidential candidate and former U.S. president, has a reputation for having questionable ideologies that stir up controversy amongst Democrats and Republicans alike. He has built quite a reputation for himself since his presidency in 2017 which ended in 2021. According to an AP News article published in May, Trump became the first U.S. president found guilty of felony crimes when he was convicted of all 34 charges for illegally conspiring to sway the 2016 election, and his plans for his second presidency (if he succeeds in winning the race) are quite contentious. In August, CBS News published an article stating that Trump and his party claim they have nothing to do with a recent historic movement that directors have called the 2025 Presidential Transition Project or Project 2025.
This long, and frankly perplexing, political initiative was put together by hundreds of people working with the Heritage Foundation, most of whom are former Trump Administration employees. A CNN article from July states that “…at least 140 people who worked in the Trump administration had a hand in Project 2025.” This includes the project’s three directors, all of whom were working under Trump during his presidency. Maybe the public would be more inclined to believe Trump’s denial of connection if there weren’t so many people with explicit ties to the Trump Administration. Despite the power he would have over the project, Trump’s association with Project 2025 isn’t what people are worried about.
Project 2025 has components and ideologies that have caused many to raise a red flag. The project is over 900 pages of ideas that will heavily impact our country. The Project 2025 website states that using a policy agenda, personnel training, and a 180-day playbook will help create an “effective conservative administration” that might kick off in January 2025 depending on who wins the election and that party’s decision to utilize it. The Washington Post released an article in July that highlights some of the policies that are suggested in the text including giving Trump control over federal law enforcement agencies, cutting LGBTQ+ health programs, and cracking down on abortion regulations among many other initiatives.
Project 2025 will allow the president complete jurisdiction over organizations such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation. MSNBC released an article in July that breaks down some of the ways this would affect the Bureau. The article states that Trump will have the power to take FBI investigations regarding police misconduct out of the picture. This suggestion will not do the country any good. The reputation of the police is already hindered by news stories that tell the grim tales of police brutality and in turn, the police are immediately pinned as monsters and untrustworthy. The police are supposed to be beacons of safety in communities, and if an officer uses unnecessary violence without being disciplined, others will likely suffer. Project 2025 has no shortage of policies that infringe on basic human rights.
For years LGBTQ+ and abortion rights have been hot topics discussed in D.C. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, Project 2025 will repeal the FDA approval of the abortion medication mifepristone, bring back the 19th century Comstock Act that bans the use of the U.S. Postal Service to mail equipment and medication used for abortions, threatening hospitals that aid transgender teens with gender-affirming care with revoking their Medicaid funding, and suing schools that safeguard the rights of trans students.
Instead of evolving as a government and society, we are devolving. Now more than ever, people are starting to realize that Trump is unfit for the role of president, so there is a chance that the Democratic party will come out on top and hopefully reverse the choices made by the government previously. If the government doesn’t protect the basic rights of human beings then who will?
