The ACLU of Utah is a not-for-profit and non-partisan organization, meaning we do not endorse or oppose any political candidates or parties. We recognize that the 2024 presidential election result will have immense implications for the future of our civil rights and liberties. Just like during the first Trump era, fighting disinformation and being a source of knowledge for our friends, families, and communities is how we build power. That’s why we’re sharing information about Project 2025.
What is Project 2025?
In 2022, the Heritage Foundation, a conservative-leaning think tank, and 140 former Trump staffers put together Project 2025, a roadmap for replacing the rule of law with ideas that undermine the protection of civil rights and liberties.
Project 2025 is a federal policy agenda and blueprint for a radical restructuring of the executive branch authored and published by former Trump administration officials in partnership with The Heritage Foundation, a longstanding conservative think tank that opposes abortion and reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, immigrants’ rights, and racial equity. Project 2025’s largest publication, “Mandate For Leadership,” is a 900-page manual for reorganizing the entire federal government agency by agency to serve a conservative agenda.
Project 2025 includes a long list of extreme policy recommendations touching on nearly every aspect of American life, from immigration and abortion rights, to free speech and racial justice. A number of its recommendations rely on support from the executive branch and from Congress. Many other initiatives are outright unconstitutional.
What Are Some Plans/Proposals Included in Project 2025?
Project 2025 calls for hundreds of individual policy changes that will impact our constitutional freedoms, and every aspect of our lives. Among them are:
Gutting Abortion Access
Severely limiting abortion access nationwide by reversing the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, a drug used in medication abortion, and reviving a 19th century law, the Comstock Act, to ban any abortion medications, equipment, or materials from being sent through the U.S. Postal Service.
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Mass Deportations
Targeting immigrant communities through mass deportations and raids, ending birthright citizenship, separating families, and dismantling our nation’s asylum system.
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Abusing Warrantless Surveillance
Exploiting the executive branch’s vast and unprecedented powers to spy on Americans’ lives with warrantless surveillance of our data.
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Unleashing Undue Force on Protestors
Violating the First Amendment by using federal law enforcement to target journalists and protestors.
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Severely Limiting Voting Access
Abusing executive power to interfere in our elections by criminalizing the voting process and damaging fair representation.
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Censoring Critical Discussions in Classrooms
Censoring academic discussions about race, gender, and systemic oppression, in violation of the First Amendment, and promising to cut federal funding for schools with curricula that touch on these subjects.
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Rolling Back Trans Rights
Weaponizing federal law to require states and private actors to discriminate against transgender people by threatening to sue schools that protect the rights of trans students or telling hospitals that they would lose their Medicaid funding if they provide gender-affirming medical care to trans adolescents.
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What Are Donald Trump’s Connections to Project 2025?
Project 2025 was published by The Heritage Foundation, a longstanding conservative think tank with direct ties to former President Trump’s administration. Though Trump has falsely claimed he is not connected to Project 2025, a recent report from CNN found at least 140 people who worked on Project 2025 previously worked in the Trump administration. The Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts also previously worked on President Trump’s transition team in 2016, and has described his organization’s role as “institutionalizing Trumpism.”
Roberts was also one of the principle advocates for overturning the 2020 election to keep Donald Trump in office after he lost the election. Heritage Foundation executive Mike Howell recently called the 2024 election illegitimate before voting even began, claiming without evidence that any result other than a Trump victory will have been the result of fraud.
