Journalist David Graham says the aim of the creators of the conservative action plan Project 2025 aim is to push the federal government "as far to the right as they can." His new book is The Project.Also, TV critic David Bianculli reviews a new PBS documentary about libraries.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
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This is Fresh Air. I'm Dave Davies. During the 2024 presidential campaign, Democratic attacks on Donald Trump often cited Project 2025, a policy blueprint for his second term developed by the Conservative Heritage Foundation.
Democrats targeted many proposals from the plan, such as replacing thousands of civil servants in the government with Trump loyalists and abolishing the Department of Education. In response, candidate Trump sought to distance himself from the effort.
I have nothing to do with Project 2025. That's out there. I haven't read it. I don't want to read it purposely. I'm not going to read it.
But once in office, Trump pursued many of the initiatives outlined in the project. An analysis by the publication Bloomberg Government found that 37 of the 47 executive actions taken in Trump's first few days in office directly or partially matched recommendations from Project 2025.
Our guest, journalist David Graham, has a new book about the origins, authors, and policy proposals of the more than 900-page report the project produced. Graham writes that the project's vision of America is that of an avowedly Christian nation, but following a very specific narrow strain of Christianity. In many ways, he writes, it resembles the 1950s.
While fathers work, mothers stay at home with larger families. Graham observes that some proposals made in pursuit of that vision may be harder to implement, with deep cuts to government programs inflicted by Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. David Graham is a staff writer at The Atlantic.
His coverage of the 2020 presidential election won the 2021 Toner Prize for Excellence in National Political Reporting. He previously reported for Newsweek, The Daily Beast, The Wall Street Journal, and other publications. His new book is The Project, How Project 2025 is Reshaping America. Well, David Graham, welcome to Fresh Air. Oh, thank you for having me.
I want to begin by sort of what drove this project. I mean, this was years in the making, well in advance of the 2024 election. And there was a sense of emergency in those who were – getting this project going. I think Russell Vogt said that we are in the last stages of a complete Marxist takeover of the country. The stakes were really high here for these people, weren't they?
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