Project 2025 GOP Playbook and Trump's Second Term Implementation Analysis
Overview
Project 2025, spearheaded by The Heritage Foundation, presents a comprehensive plan for reshaping the federal government based on conservative and Christian nationalist ideologies. Identified by Democrats prior to the 2024 Presidential election, as the new GOP Playbook, Trump denied its connection with his campaign. He claimed that he did not any knowledge of the contents, denied that he had any involvement in its creation, and eventually stated that some of the provisions are ridiculous.
This plan emphasizes centralizing executive power, dismantling regulatory bodies, transforming education and civil rights policies, and reasserting traditional family and religious values. This report analyzes and cross-references actions taken by President Trump during his second term (as verified by executive orders/memos) to evaluate alignment with the 132+ key proposals in Project 2025
ANALYSIS:
SECTION 1: Executive Authority & Civil Service Overhaul
Project 2025 Proposals 1–36: Replace career civil servants with loyalists, abolish DHS and ED, reclassify Schedule F, override agency independence, invoke unitary executive theory, dismantle DOJ/FBI independence, and prepare for Insurrection Act use.
Trump Admin Alignment:
- Created the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk to oversee mass layoffs of civil servants (Matches #1, #7, #21)
- Fired 17 inspectors general, 160+ National Security Council officials, 56 USAID officials, and other civil servants viewed as disloyal
- Offered "deferred resignation" packages to federal employees—mirroring Elon Musk's Twitter strategy—to induce mass voluntary exits
- Nullified federal employee union contracts, especially those finalized under Biden
- Signed EO to reinstate Schedule F and offer "deferred resignation" packages to federal employees (Matches #20)
- DOJ loyalty tests imposed; dismissed inspectors general and other staff considered disloyal (Matches #22, #29)
- Direct control asserted over DOJ, FCC, FEC, SEC—embracing unitary executive theory (Matches #2, #25)
- Reinstated national emergency at border, prepared military for immigration enforcement (Matches #27, #28)
Assessment: Strong alignment with intent and mechanisms proposed in Project 2025.
Section 2: Immigration & Border Control (77-84)
Trump Admin Alignment:
- Appointed Project 2025 contributor Tom Homan as "border czar" to oversee deportations
- Gave ICE authority to deport even legally-present immigrants under Biden-era programs
- Reinstated the national emergency at the border and deployed armed forces there
- Ended birthright citizenship via executive order (now challenged in court)
- Revoked Obama-era guidance preventing immigration arrests in sensitive places like hospitals and churches
- Signed the Laken Riley Act, the first law of his second term, to expand immigration detention at Guantanamo
SECTION 3: Economic, Fiscal, and Labor Policy
Project 2025 Proposals 37–56: Abolish Fed, restructure taxes to flat/consumption, deregulate business, abolish FTC/EDA, limit labor protections.
Trump Admin Alignment:
- Tariffs imposed on nearly all countries, matching Project 2025's mixed stance on fair vs. free trade (#55)
- Actions taken to abolish the Federal income tax, have yet to be implemented. Though there is a proposed bill which would do just that, replacing income tax with a sales tax on everything purchased (insurance, services, banking fees, etc.) which would be an absolute minimum of 30% sales tax after 2027. That figure is just for federal sales tax, which stands to be considerably higher based on the terms, this does not include the city and state sales taxes which would also need to be raised to pay for the things that the federal government has decided it will not pay education, disaster relief, etc)
- The bill would be effective as of 2027, but until then, the Senate is evaluating the Trump reform which would include only two brackets, 15% and 30%, with a limit on deductions and credits. Those making less than $47,150 (as of 2024) would pay more, up to 5% more, and those making more than $191K would pay less, as much as 7% less. (#37–#41)
Assessment: Partial alignment in trade policy; tax and structural reforms not fully implemented yet.
SECTION 4: Education Reform and Federal Withdrawal
Project 2025 Proposals 57–66: Abolish ED, shift to state control, promote school vouchers, defund low-income aid and free meals, purge DEI/CRT.
Trump Admin Alignment:
- EO 14190: "Ending Radical Indoctrination in K–12" reinstated 1776 Commission, purged CRT/DEI (#57, #65). This EO calls for American "value" indoctrination secured by a mandatory government broadcast once a week. Rewriting of history to present America's history (slavery, condemning Native American's to reserves) in a positive light
- EO dismantling Department of Education and promoting school choice (#7, #8, #58)
- Froze university funding to progressive institutions (implicit match with #59, #60)
Assessment: Strong alignment. Proposals are being actively implemented.
SECTION 5: DEI, LGBTQ+, and Gender Identity Rollbacks
Project 2025 Proposals 67–94: Eliminate DEI, criminalize anti-white racism, roll back LGBTQ+ protections, deny gender recognition, remove contraception from healthcare.
Trump Admin Alignment:
- EO ending DEI in Armed Forces and all agencies (#67)
- EO Ending Illegal DEI removes all mention of DEI and enforces compliance and review to receive federal funding
- Removed all institutions, policies, denied all grants, and eliminated all funding for any program that contained the keywords: DEI, Low-Income, Underserved, or any LGBT&Q related language etc.
- Executive order defining sex as binary and revoking transgender recognition (#87–#89)
- Directed lawsuits dropped that were based on discrimination, not just DEI policies
- Proposals for criminalizing anti-white discrimination in the private sector
- Removed LGBTQ+ mentions from National Park and federal websites (#86)
- Actively scrubbing information about African American and Women leaders in history
Assessment: Direct implementation underway; nearly all proposals in this section are already being executed.
