These Republicans Have Ties to the Group Behind Project 2025

[alwaysinasnit]

https://www.democracydocket.com/analysis/these-republicans-have-ties-to-the-group-behind-project-2025/

Republicans don’t want to talk about Project 2025. The nearly 1,000-page right-wing plan to convert the federal government into an authoritarian regime when the next Republican president comes into power is the brainchild of The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank founded in 1973 during the Nixon administration. Over the decades, The Heritage Foundation has evolved to be one of the most influential conservative entities in the GOP, working behind the scenes to shape some of the most controversial Republican policies.

So it’s a bit hard to believe that most Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, say they aren’t familiar with Project 2025, or who’s behind it. The sprawling document — which proposes extreme changes to the federal government, like abolishing the Department of Education and banning abortion — is the culmination of input from dozens of prominent right-wing organizations and figures. Clearly an effort years in the making.

But the extreme agenda of Project 2025 — and controversial comments from Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts — are causing Republicans to distance themselves from it as much as possible. Democracy Docket traced The Heritage Foundation’s connections to nine Republican lawmakers and candidates in the 2024 election. The connections range from a close working relationship with Heritage on specific issues, to more loose associations, like speaking at Heritage-organized events.

Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.)

Running for U.S. Senate

In the 117th Congress, Banks served as the chairman of the Republican Study Committee, a conservative caucus that puts out its own alternative budget proposals each year. In 2023, Banks helped lead the caucus’ alt budget, which it dubbed the “Blueprint to Save America,” that proposed diverting funds to increasing the military budget, building a border wall and protecting Americans “from the Radical Woke Agenda.”

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