In a dramatic reversal, President-elect Donald Trump and his allies are turning to the controversial conservative initiative Project 2025 to help staff the incoming administration. During the election, Trump distanced himself from the project, disavowing its policy blueprint and personnel database, especially after it became a target in Democratic campaign ads. Trump’s transition team even suggested those involved with the project would be excluded from a future administration.
Howard Lutnick, co-chair of Trump’s transition and a key nominee for Commerce Secretary, dismissed Project 2025 as a liability in September, calling it “nuclear” in an interview with CNBC. However, now that the election has ended, Trump’s team is increasingly drawing on the massive database of vetted conservative candidates compiled by the project to fill more than 4,000 political appointments set to become vacant in 2025.
Project 2025’s database, which was touted as a conservative equivalent of LinkedIn, features over 10,000 names of individuals with ties to the Trump movement. According to sources familiar with the transition, officials are actively seeking out candidates from the database for critical positions across various federal agencies.
One individual involved with the transition said, “There’s a lot of positions to fill, and we continue to send names over, including from the database, as they are conservative, qualified, and vetted.” The transition has already made use of the project’s contributors, such as nominating Tom Homan as Border Czar and Brendan Carr as Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Both were part of Project 2025, with Carr also authoring a chapter on the FCC.
Former Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, another Project 2025 author, is also considered a potential administration pick. However, not all names from the initiative are finding favor. Politico reported that former Trump official Roger Severino, who contributed to Project 2025’s health policy proposals, was rejected for a key role at the Department of Health and Human Services over concerns about his anti-abortion stances.
The shift toward using Project 2025 comes despite Trump’s earlier public rejections of the initiative. In a July interview, Trump campaign advisers dismissed the project as a separate entity, claiming it would not influence the administration’s staffing decisions. Trump himself had previously criticized Project 2025 as too extreme, especially on issues like abortion and federal bureaucracy reductions, which were included in the project’s policy recommendations.
Despite these tensions, some Republican insiders remain confident that the project’s contributors will ultimately play a significant role in shaping the next administration. “There’s a lot of people with their name in Project 2025, and that’s going to be a tough one to really stick by,” said one Republican operative.
Project 2025’s influence on the 2024 election was undeniable, with Democrats using the policy blueprint to target Trump’s campaign, particularly over its more conservative positions. Trump’s team initially rejected the project as a political liability, but now, as the transition team scrambles to fill key positions, its database of conservative candidates has become a vital resource.
As the new administration prepares to take office, the political landscape remains contentious, with critics warning that the policies and personnel linked to Project 2025 could bring further division. Michigan state Senator Mallory McMorrow, who campaigned against the project, emphasized the need for Democrats to respond strategically to the potential rise of its ideas and figures in the coming years.
With tensions still running high, Project 2025’s role in shaping the Trump administration’s personnel and policy remains a contentious but crucial factor in the transition process.
