Press Releases

Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett (D-VI), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government led all 9 Democratic Members of the Subcommittee in a letter to Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) calling for a hearing to examine the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025. Project 2025 provides a nearly 900-page policy roadmap for a drastic, unconstitutional restructuring of the government that would infringe on the rights of millions of Americans by delivering unbridled power to the President.

The letter is also signed by Representatives Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA), Linda T. Sánchez (D-CA), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA), John Garamendi (D-CA), Sylvia R. Garcia (D-TX), Dan Goldman (D-NY), and Jasmine Crockett (D-TX).

In their letter, the Members write, in part:

“This Select Subcommittee has held 13 hearings to examine what the majority has deemed “weaponization” of the federal government. It has called in witnesses and public officials to examine issues like alleged retaliation by government agencies against conservative employees; alleged First Amendment violations by government agencies, when these agencies were in fact trying to prevent malign foreign actors from interfering in our elections; alleged politicization of state and federal prosecutions of former President Donald Trump; alleged abuse of financial tools regularly used by law enforcement to take down traffickers and transnational organized crime groups and other allegations.

These hearings have proved to be a waste of time. After dozens of hours of hearings, thousands of hours of staff time, and millions of taxpayer dollars used across 21 months, this Select Subcommittee has found no credible evidence of systematic weaponization of the federal government against Americans. Yet, 900 pages of evidence of such proposed weaponization lays at our fingertips. After our failure to use this Select Subcommittee to truly serve the American people up until now, we owe it to them to investigate Project 2025 before it is too late.

…Project 2025’s Mandate for Leadership (hereinafter “The Mandate”) calls for outrageous and terrifying proposals that would subject the American people to the whims of the next far-right leader in control of the White House. For example, The Mandate lays out a series of dramatic overhauls to strip the Department of Justice (DOJ) of its checks and balances and gives superior, unchecked power to a future administration run by Donald Trump and his supporters. It calls to terminate all Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigations that do not directly benefit the policy goals of a conservative President. It proposes to hamstring the FBI’s authority to combat malign foreign actors trying to influence American elections. It demands that the Justice Department make litigation decisions based on the President’s political goals, rather than law and order. It justifies taking legal action against all left-leaning state district attorneys for not conforming to the administration’s policy agenda. It calls to ensure that business owners are allowed to discriminate against individuals in protected classes, such as LGBTQ+ individuals, and for the aggressive prosecution of private businesses for any diversity initiatives. It demands criminal punishment for abortion providers who distribute abortion medication. And, perhaps most alarmingly, it calls for the removal and replacement of career civil servants with as many conservative loyalists as possible, who will put the President’s agenda over the U.S. Constitution. Even Inspector General Horowitz told you this week that Congress “has found where the appropriate balance is” between the number of political appointees and civil servants in the DOJ—a balance Project 2025 would eradicate.

…Project 2025 represents a far-right, extremist agenda, as demonstrated by the above examples. Perhaps if it was proposed by a fringe, obscure group, it would be easier to dismiss. This Mandate, however, has been largely adopted by Donald Trump on his campaign trail, and was mostly created by former Trump administration officials who collectively hold incredible power and influence in the U.S. government.

Though Trump has disclaimed any involvement in Project 2025, in reality he has extensive connections to this radical plan. At least 140 people who worked in Trump’s administration had a hand in Project 2025, many serving as authors, editors and contributors to The Mandate. Trump even said himself in 2022 after sharing a 45-minute flight with the Heritage Foundation’s President, Kevin Rogers, that “The [Heritage Foundation is] going to lay the groundwork and detail plans for exactly what our movement will do.” He only disavows it now because The Mandate is severely unpopular with the American electorate.

Despite the failures of this Select Subcommittee, we now have a chance to conduct oversight over a real form of weaponization: Project 2025. We desperately urge you to take this opportunity to serve the American people before the end of the 118th Congress and hold a bipartisan hearing examining this dangerous plan.”

The full letter can be found here.