Explained: Is Trump using the government shutdown to push Project 2025 agenda?

Trump embraces controversial Project 2025

President Donald Trump has now openly embraced the conservative framework he had previously tried to distance himself from during the 2024 campaign, as one of its architects seeks to use the government shutdown to push forward plans to reduce the federal workforce and target Democratic-led states.

On Thursday morning, Trump posted on his Truth Social account that he would meet with his budget chief, “Russ Vought, he of PROJECT 2025 Fame, to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent.”

Sharp reversal

The remarks mark a sharp reversal for Trump, who spent much of last year criticising Project 2025, The Heritage Foundation’s extensive proposal to overhaul the federal government, created by several of his longtime allies and current and former officials.

Democrats highlight blueprint

During the campaign, both of Trump’s Democratic opponents, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, made the far-right blueprint a central focus, with a giant replica of the book displayed prominently on stage at the Democratic National Convention.

Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget under Biden, said the administration had clearly been following the project's blueprint all along.

“I guess Democrats were right, but that doesn’t make me feel better,” she said. “I'm angry that this is happening after being told that this document was not going to be the centerpiece of this administration.”

White House response

Asked about Trump’s reversal, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said, “Democrats are desperate to talk about anything aside from their decision to hurt the American people by shutting down the government.”

Campaign leaders were critical

Top Trump campaign leaders spent much of 2024 livid at The Heritage Foundation for publishing a book full of unpopular proposals that Democrats tried to pin on the campaign to warn a second Trump term would be too extreme.

“Donald Trump and his stooges lied through their teeth about Project 2025, and now he’s running the country straight into it,” said Ammar Moussa, a former spokesperson for both campaigns. “There’s no comfort in being right — just anger that we’re stuck with the consequences of his lies.”

Trump stocking administration with authors

Trump has since gone on to stock his second administration with Project 2025 authors, including Vought, “border czar” Tom Homan, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, immigration hard-liner Stephen Miller and Brendan Carr, who wrote Project 2025’s FCC chapter.

Using shutdown to accelerate agenda

Since his swearing-in, Trump has pursued plans from Project 2025 to expand presidential power and reduce the federal workforce, including canceling projects championed by Democrats and preparing agencies for mass firings during the shutdown.

In his Project 2025 chapter, Vought described OMB as “a President’s air-traffic control system,” powerful enough to override agencies’ bureaucracies. Sen. Mike Lee and House Speaker Mike Johnson praised the blueprint for further empowering Trump.

Democrats warn of overreach

Young said the Constitution gives the White House no such authority, chastising Congress Republicans for “handing the keys over” to the president. “The keys are gone. They're lost. They're down a drain,” she said.

(With AP inputs)