At least 31 people linked to Project 2025 have been tapped for jobs in President Donald Trump‘s administration.
Project 2025 is a 900-page document of policy proposals spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation thinktank. It advocates limited government, border security and tough immigration laws among other conservative measures.
Project 2025 was a source of debate before the election, with Democrats accusing Trump of planning to implement it if he won. Before the election Trump called parts of it “ridiculous and abysmal”. But after he won, he told Time in an interview that he disagreed with parts of it, but not all of it.
Trump had nominated four people to key positions in his administration tied to Project 2025 including Cabinet-level positions, Russell Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget and John Ratcliffe, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
At least 31 individuals listed as either contributors, authors, instructors or founders of the Project 2025 advisory board America First Legal Foundation have either been nominated, designated, appointed or confirmed to positions in Trump’s second administration, Newsweek’s analysis shows.
According to the Washington Post and nonpartisan democracy group Partnership for Public Service, Trump has picked 206 nominees for roles in his administration thus far. They said that more than 1,300 political appointed positions require Senate confirmation and that there are overall 4,000 politically appointed positions in the executive government and independent agencies.
Newsweek contacted the White House and the Heritage Foundation by email to comment on this article.
Greg Williams, the director of nonpartisan independent watchdog the Center for Defense Information at the Project On Government Oversight told Newsweek: “What strikes me is the apparent contradiction between Trump’s denials before the election that Project 2025 had anything to do with his plans, and then his appointing people who contributed to Project 2025.”
The individuals linked to both Project 2025 and the Trump administration include Troy Edgar, who has been nominated for the position of deputy secretary of homeland security and is also a Project 2025 contributor and Jon Feere, who was appointed as chief of staff at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency and is also credited as contributors to Project 2025.
Of the 31 individuals, seven were nominated to positions at the Executive Office of the President. Five have Department of State nominations; four at the Department of Defense; three each at the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Transportation; two each at the Department of Veterans Affairs and Federal Communications Commission; one each at the Central Intelligence Agency, Department of the Interior, Environmental Protection Agency, Securities and Exchange Commission, and Small Business Administration.
The list of individuals and their nominated or confirmed roles in the administration is as follows:
Michael Anton, Department of State Director of the Secretary’s Policy Planning Staff
Paul Atkins, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman
James Baehr, Department of Veterans Affairs General Counsel
Steven Bradbury, Department of Transportation Deputy Secretary
James Braid, Executive Office of the President Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Legislative Affairs
Adam Candeub, Federal Communications Commission General Counsel
Brendan Carr, Federal Communications Commission Chairman
Elbridge Colby, Department of Defense Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
Monica Crowley, Department of State Chief of Protocol
Michael Duffey, Department of Defense Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment
Troy Edgar, Department of Homeland Security Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security
Jon Feere, Department of Homeland Security Chief of Staff, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Peter Hoekstra, Department of State Ambassador to Canada
Thomas Homan, Executive Office of the President “Border Czar”
Roman Jankowski, Department of Homeland Security Chief Privacy Officer
Paul R. Lawrence, Department of Veterans Affairs Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Karoline Leavitt, Executive Office of the President Assistant to the President and Press Secretary
Earl Matthews, Department of Defense General Counsel of the Department of Defense
BrianvMcCormack, Executive Office of the President Chief of Staff to the National Security Adviser
StephenvMiller, Executive Office of the President Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Advisor
CaseyvMulligan, Small Business Administration Chief Counsel for Advocacy
PetervNavarro, Executive Office of the President Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing
Caleb Orr, Department of State Assistant Secretary of State (Economic and Business Affairs)
JohnvRatcliffe, Central Intelligence Agency Director
Reed Rubinstein, Department of State Legal Adviser of the Department of State
Matthew Schuck, Department of Transportation Director of Communications and Senior Governmental Affairs Officer
Kathleen Sgamma, Department of the Interior Director
Loren Smith, Department of Transportation Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy
Aaron Szabo, Environmental Protection Agency Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation
Anthony Tata, Department of Defense Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness
Russell Vought, Executive Office of the President Director of the Office of Management and Budget
Some of Trump’s policies resemble Project 2025 initiatives, including ending diversity, equity and inclusion policies and implementing tariffs on Canada and Mexico.
Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told Newsweek in December: “As President Trump said many times, he had nothing to do with Project 2025.
“The American people reelected President Trump by a resounding margin giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail—and his Cabinet picks reflect his priority to put America First. President Trump will continue to appoint highly qualified men and women who have the talent, experience and necessary skill sets to Make America Great Again.”
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