Amid growing calls for President Biden to exit the 2024 race, Vice President Kamala Harris has been actively campaigning in North Carolina. Meanwhile, the leader of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, a blueprint for a future Republican administration to restructure many parts of the U.S. government, has stepped down amid unrelenting criticism from former President Donald Trump.
Billed by Heritage as a roadmap for a future Republican administration, Project 2025, also known as the Presidential Transition Project, was launched in April 2022 and is not associated with Trump’s campaign. However, Trump, who referred to the program as “absolutely ridiculous and abysmal,” has accused Democrats of linking his campaign to the project.
Trump’s criticism came as the then-Biden campaign was highlighting the 900-page conservative plan to steer voters away from a second Trump administration.
On Monday, Kevin Roberts, president of Heritage, issued a statement confirming that the project’s leader, Paul Dans, would be stepping down. “Under Paul Dans’ leadership, Project 2025 has completed exactly what it set out to do: bringing together over 110 leading conservative organizations to create a unified conservative vision, motivated to devolve power from the unelected administrative state, and returning it to the people. This tool was built for any future administration to use,” Roberts said.
“When we began Project 2025 in April 2022, we set a timeline for the project to conclude its policy drafting after the two party conventions this year, and we are sticking to that timeline. Paul, who built the project from scratch and bravely led this endeavor over the past two years, will be departing the team and moving up to the front where the fight remains,” Roberts continued.
“We are extremely grateful for his and everyone’s work on Project 2025 and dedication to saving America. Our collective efforts to build a personnel apparatus for policymakers of all levels—federal, state, and local—will continue,” he concluded.
