Trump Embraces Project 2025: How the Government Shutdown Accelerates Federal Workforce Cuts

US President Donald Trump

President Donald Trump is openly embracing the conservative blueprint he desperately tried to distance himself from during the 2024 campaign, as one of its architects works to use the government shutdown to accelerate his goals of slashing the size of the federal workforce and punishing Democratic states.

In a post on his Truth Social site Thursday morning, Trump announced he would be meeting 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."

The statement represents a significant reversal for Trump, who spent much of last year denouncing Project 2025, The Heritage Foundation's extensive proposed overhaul of the federal government, which was crafted by many of his longtime allies and current and former administration officials.

Both of Trump's Democratic opponents, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, highlighted the far-right policy collection as a central focus of their campaigns, and a large replica of the book was prominently featured on stage at the Democratic National Convention.

"Donald Trump and his associates misrepresented their connection to Project 2025, and now he's directing the country directly toward it," said Ammar Moussa, a former spokesperson for both Democratic campaigns. "There's no satisfaction in being correct - only frustration that we must deal with the consequences of his deception."

Shalanda Young, who served as director of the Office of Management and Budget under Biden, stated the administration had clearly been following the project's blueprint from the beginning.

"I suppose Democrats were right, but that doesn't provide any comfort," she said. "I'm frustrated that this is occurring after repeated assurances that this document would not be central to this administration."

When asked about Trump's change in position, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson responded, "Democrats are desperate to discuss anything except their decision to harm the American people by shutting down the government."

Senior Trump campaign leaders were angered throughout 2024 at The Heritage Foundation for publishing a book containing unpopular proposals that Democrats attempted to associate with the campaign to warn voters that a second Trump term would be excessively extreme.

While many policies in its more than 900 pages aligned closely with Trump's proposed agenda - particularly regarding immigration restrictions and dismantling certain federal agencies - others called for measures Trump had never discussed, such as prohibiting pornography, or topics his team actively avoided, like withdrawing approval for abortion medication.

Trump repeatedly claimed he had no knowledge about the group or its leadership, despite his close relationships with many of its authors. These included John McEntee, his former director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office, and Paul Dans, former chief of staff at the US Office of Personnel Management.

"I know nothing about Project 2025," Trump insisted in July 2024. "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."

Trump's campaign leadership was equally dismissive.

"President Trump's campaign has been very clear for over a year that Project 2025 had nothing to do with the campaign, did not speak for the campaign, and should not be associated with the campaign or the President in any way," wrote Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita in a campaign memo. They added, "Reports of Project 2025's demise would be greatly welcomed and should serve as notice to anyone or any group trying to misrepresent their influence with President Trump and his campaign - it will not end well for you."

Trump has subsequently filled his second administration with the project's authors, including Vought, "border czar" Tom Homan, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, immigration hard-liner Stephen Miller and Brendan Carr, who authored Project 2025's chapter on the Federal Communications Commission and now chairs that panel.

Heritage did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday. However, Dans, the project's former director, expressed that it's been "exciting" to see so much of what was outlined in the book being implemented.

"It's gratifying. We're very proud of the work that was done for this express purpose: to have a doer like President Trump ready to roll on Day One," said Dans, who is currently campaigning for Senate against Lindsey Graham in South Carolina.

Since taking office, Trump has been pursuing plans detailed in Project 2025 to significantly expand presidential authority and reduce the federal workforce. These include initiatives like the Department of Government Efficiency and budget rescission packages, which have resulted in billions of dollars being delayed, canceled or withheld by the administration this year.

They are now utilizing the shutdown to accelerate their agenda.

Before the funding deadline, OMB instructed agencies to prepare for additional mass terminations of federal workers, rather than simply furloughing non-essential employees, as has been standard practice during previous shutdowns. Vought informed House GOP lawmakers during a private conference call Wednesday that layoffs would commence within the next day or two.

They have also leveraged the shutdown to target projects championed by Democrats, including canceling $8 billion in green energy projects in states with Democratic senators and withholding $18 billion for transportation projects in New York City that have been supported by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries in their home state.

These actions are part of a broader strategy to concentrate federal authority in the presidency, which was a prevalent theme throughout Project 2025.

In his contribution to the blueprint, Vought clearly expressed his desire for the president and OMB to exercise more direct power.

"The Director must view his job as the best, most comprehensive approximation of the President's mind," he wrote. Vought described OMB as "a President's air-traffic control system," which should be "involved in all aspects of the White House policy process," becoming "powerful enough to override implementing agencies' bureaucracies."

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, stated on Fox News Channel that Vought "has a plan, and that plan is going to succeed in further empowering Trump. This is going to be the Democrats' worst nightmare."

House Speaker Mike Johnson reinforced this message, asserting that the government shutdown grants Trump and his budget director extensive control over the federal government and unilateral authority to determine which personnel and policies are essential and which are not.

Schumer has handed "the keys of the kingdom to the president," Johnson said Thursday. "Because they have decided to vote to shut the government down, they have now effectively turned off the legislative branch ... and they've turned it over to the executive."

Young responded that the Constitution provides the White House with no such authority and criticized Republicans in Congress for abandoning their responsibility to serve as a check on presidential power.

"I don't want to hear a lecture about handing the keys over," she said. "The keys are gone. They're lost. They're down a drain. This shutdown is not what lost the keys."