What Is Project 2025
Project 2025 is the Heritage Foundation’s plan for a conservative president’s first term, published in 2023. Its core is a book of policy proposals called the Mandate for Leadership, written agency by agency by dozens of authors, many of them former Trump officials. The project also built a database of potential hires and a training program to staff the next administration.
The plan is public, so every proposal can be checked against what the government has done since.
Key facts
- The Mandate runs to 887 printed pages across 30 chapters, most of them covering one department or agency (Heritage).
- One tracker found 53% of its 532 domestic proposals started or done by February 2026 (CPR).
- Seven chapter authors held jobs in the administration as of December 2025, from the budget office to the FCC (Snopes).
- Some of its biggest asks, like ending the Education Department, need Congress, and Congress has not acted.
The Mandate is a set of recommendations, not a law. Nothing in it takes effect on its own. A proposal becomes real only when a president signs an order, an agency writes a rule, or Congress passes a bill, and each of those can be challenged in court. That is why a tracker has to show both halves: what the text asked for and what happened.
How Much of Project 2025 Is Done
Two trackers both find that more than half of what they track has started, and they count differently. The Center for Progressive Reform and Governing for Impact follow 532 domestic recommendations across 20 agencies. The volunteer-run Project 2025 Observer follows 321 broader objectives across 34 agencies.
- 53%
- of 532 domestic proposals started or done, February 2026 (CPR)
- 44%
- of 321 objectives marked done, September 2026 (Observer)
- 66%
- of 321 objectives done or in progress (Observer)
The gap between the numbers comes from what each group counts and how it grades. “In progress” can mean a draft rule or an executive order a court has paused. Neither tracker weighs proposals by size, so eliminating a department and renaming an office each count as one.
The Center for Progressive Reform’s figure covers the administration’s first year, through its February 11, 2026 release. The Observer’s counts are from its home page on October 14, 2026, and change as volunteers add entries. The Observer’s own headline figure, 55% progress, gives partial credit for objectives in progress.
A percentage tells you the pace. It does not tell you which proposals moved, whether they held up in court, or which ones never happened. For that, you have to go back to the text.
14 Project 2025 Proposals Checked Against the Record
We took 14 of the plan’s best-known proposals and checked each against the Federal Register, court rulings and the laws Congress passed. Six are in effect, two are partly done, two were blocked, and four have not happened.
- In effect (6 proposals) An order, rule or law carries it out, even if lawsuits continue
- Partly done (2 proposals)
- Blocked (2 proposals) A court stopped it, or it needed Congress
- Not done (4 proposals)
Our check of 14 flagship proposals, each quoted from the Mandate on this page. A sample, not a count of all 532.
The proposals that moved fastest were the ones a president could carry out with a signature: orders on diversity programs, sex and gender, federal unions and the civil service. The ones that stalled needed Congress, like abolishing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or ran into a court, like the emergency tariffs the Supreme Court ruled unauthorized in February 2026.
Where 14 Project 2025 Proposals Stand
As of October 14, 2026
- Make senior career jobs easier to fill with loyalists (Schedule F) Agency action, in effect
Executive Order 14171 (January 20, 2025) reinstated the 2020 order creating Schedule F. OPM's final rule letting agencies move policy-influencing jobs into "Schedule Policy/Career" took effect March 9, 2026. (source)
- Question whether federal workers should have unions at all In litigation, in effect
Executive Order 14251 (March 27, 2025) excluded the agencies and offices it lists from federal collective bargaining law on national security grounds. The Ninth Circuit vacated a preliminary injunction against it on February 26, 2026 (amended June 17, 2026). (source)
- Eliminate the Department of Education Agency action, partly done
Executive Order 14242 (March 20, 2025) told the Education Secretary to facilitate the department's closure "to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law." By March 19, 2026, 10 interagency agreements had moved programs to five other agencies, including Labor, HHS and Treasury, with the department keeping statutory responsibility for them. Congress has not passed a law abolishing it. (source)
- Remove "gender ideology" from federal policy and schools Agency action, in force
Executive Order 14168 (January 20, 2025) told every agency that sex means "an individual's immutable biological classification as either male or female." (source)
- Strip DEI out of federal rules, grants and contracts Agency action, in force
Executive Orders 14151 and 14173 (January 20 and 21, 2025) ended federal DEI programs and made contractors and grantees certify they run no DEI programs that violate federal anti-discrimination laws. The Fourth Circuit vacated a preliminary injunction against them on February 6, 2026. (source)
- Stop using disparate impact to prove discrimination Agency action, enforcement deprioritized; law unchanged
The chapter asked Congress to do this. Executive Order 14281 (April 23, 2025) told agencies to "deprioritize enforcement" of laws to the extent they include disparate-impact liability and told the Attorney General to repeal or amend the Title VI rules. Congress has not changed Title VII. (source)
- Cut off public broadcasting funding Law, done
The Rescissions Act of 2025, signed July 24, 2025, clawed back the $1.1 billion set aside for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the CPB said in August 2025 that it would close. (source)
- Revisit the 2009 finding that greenhouse gases endanger health Agency action, rescinded; in litigation
EPA rescinded the endangerment finding and its vehicle emission standards, effective April 20, 2026. Petitions for review are pending in the D.C. Circuit, the first filed February 18, 2026. (source)
- Abolish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Blocked by a court, funding ordered
The 2025 reconciliation law cut the percentage in the bureau's funding cap from 12 to 6.5, nearly in half. On September 25, 2026, a federal court in Oregon held that the acting director must request funding from the Federal Reserve, according to California's attorney general. Congress has not abolished the bureau. (source)
- Give the president power to match other countries' tariffs Blocked by a court, struck down
The chapter asked Congress for a Reciprocal Trade Act. Instead, the administration imposed tariffs under an emergency-powers law, and the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on February 20, 2026 that the law does not authorize them. (source)
- Reverse FDA approval of the abortion pill Proposal, not done; FDA study open
Not done. The FDA says it is conducting a safety study of mifepristone and will then decide whether to change its safety rules; the approval stands. (source)
- Eliminate Head Start Proposal, not done
Not done. Head Start programs still operate in every state, according to HHS's Office of Head Start. (source)
- Dismantle NOAA, parent of the National Weather Service Proposal, not done
Not done. NOAA still exists inside the Commerce Department. (source)
- Move FEMA out of Homeland Security Proposal, not done; under review
Not done. Executive Order 14180 (January 24, 2025) created a council to review FEMA; FEMA is still part of DHS. (source)
Source: Federal Register; Supreme Court; Fourth and Ninth Circuits; K-12 Dive; NPR; California Attorney General; FDA; HHS Office of Head Start
Project 2025 Proposals in the Mandate’s Own Words
Summaries of Project 2025 tend to paraphrase, and paraphrase is where arguments start. These are the Mandate’s own sentences, with the printed page where each appears, so you can check them in the full text.
Project 2025 Proposals in the Mandate's Own Words
Source: Mandate for Leadership 2025, Heritage Foundation (printed page numbers)
Some links between the page and the policy are documented, and some are only claimed. When an order does exactly what a sentence asked for, like revoking federal diversity programs or cutting off public broadcasting money, the match is on the record. When the administration reached a similar goal a different way, like tariffs under an emergency law instead of the new trade law the chapter asked Congress to pass, the connection is an interpretation, and critics and supporters read it differently.
Project 2025 Authors Now in Government
At least seven of the Mandate’s chapter authors went on to run the agencies they wrote about or offices near them. Russell Vought, who wrote the chapter on the Executive Office of the President, became budget director. Lindsey Burke, who wrote that the Education Department “should be eliminated,” became a deputy chief of staff at that department.
Project 2025 Chapter Authors and Their Roles Today
Source: Mandate for Leadership table of contents; Snopes, December 16, 2025
The list extends beyond chapter authors. Snopes found that contributors including CIA Director John Ratcliffe, border adviser Tom Homan and Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins also worked on the Mandate. Not every author joined: the administration passed over Roger Severino, who wrote the health chapter, for a top HHS job, according to Politico reporting cited by Snopes.
Trump and Project 2025
Trump distanced himself from the plan during the 2024 campaign and embraced its best-known author afterward. As a candidate he said he had “nothing to do with Project 2025” and called its ideas “ridiculous,” NPR reported. Days after winning, he named Vought to lead the budget office. During the fall 2025 shutdown, he boasted of meeting with “Russ Vought, he of PROJECT 2025 Fame,” NPR reported.
The White House rejects the idea that Heritage wrote its agenda. “President Trump is implementing the agenda he campaigned on and that the American people voted for,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told NPR. A spokesperson also told Snopes the administration did not use the project’s personnel database to hire.
- Heritage publishes the Mandate 887 printed pages of proposals, agency by agency
- Trump disowns the plan Says he has "nothing to do with Project 2025"
- First orders match the text Schedule F, DEI and gender orders signed on day one
- Education Department closure ordered Executive Order 14242, signed March 20
- Public broadcasting defunded Rescissions Act of 2025 claws back $1.1 billion for the CPB
- Court strikes emergency tariffs Supreme Court rules 6-3 on February 20
- Schedule Policy/Career takes effect OPM rule effective March 9
- Endangerment finding rescinded EPA repeal takes effect April 20
Project 2025 From Publication to Policy: 2023: Heritage publishes the Mandate (887 printed pages of proposals, agency by agency). 2024: Trump disowns the plan (Says he has "nothing to do with Project 2025"). Jan 2025: First orders match the text (Schedule F, DEI and gender orders signed on day one). Mar 2025: Education Department closure ordered (Executive Order 14242, signed March 20). Jul 2025: Public broadcasting defunded (Rescissions Act of 2025 claws back $1.1 billion for the CPB). Feb 2026: Court strikes emergency tariffs (Supreme Court rules 6-3 on February 20). Mar 2026: Schedule Policy/Career takes effect (OPM rule effective March 9). Apr 2026: Endangerment finding rescinded (EPA repeal takes effect April 20).
2023: Heritage published the Mandate for Leadership, the centerpiece of Project 2025.
2024: Trump said he had “nothing to do with Project 2025,” after the plan became a campaign issue.
January 2025: On his first day, Trump signed orders reinstating Schedule F (14171), ending federal diversity programs (14151) and defining sex as an “immutable biological classification” (14168). Each matches a proposal quoted above.
March 2025: Executive Order 14242 told the Education Secretary to facilitate the department’s closure “to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law.”
July 2025: The Rescissions Act of 2025, signed July 24, clawed back $1.1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the step the Mandate’s media chapter called “logistically easy.”
February 2026: The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Learning Resources v. Trump that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the law behind the “reciprocal” and drug-trafficking tariffs, “does not authorize the President to impose tariffs.”
March 2026: OPM’s rule creating Schedule Policy/Career took effect, the formal version of the Schedule F plan.
April 2026: EPA’s rescission of the 2009 endangerment finding and its vehicle emission standards took effect. The EPA chapter had asked for a system to “update” the finding.
The Honest Disagreement Over Project 2025
Supporters and some historians compare Project 2025 to what think tanks have long done. Tevi Troy, a presidential historian who worked in the George W. Bush White House, told NPR that “Project 2025 was largely standard conservative fare, but with a bit more of a MAGA flavor than previously,” and compared it to the Hoover Institution’s role under Bush and the Center for American Progress under Obama. Paul Dans, the project’s director, told NPR that each Trump action drawn from it was “an endorsement of our work.”
Critics say the plan is different because of what it targets. The Center for Progressive Reform says the plan’s architects saw “the independent civil service as one of the biggest obstacles to its goals,” and James Goodwin, its interim co-executive director, called the plan a “blueprint for defusing or co-opting any governing institutions that might stand in the way.” California Attorney General Rob Bonta told NPR the document amounted to “telling us exactly what they were going to do and sending it to us in writing,” and said Democratic attorneys general used it to prepare legal responses.
Both readings can be checked against the same record. The text is public, the orders are in the Federal Register, and the court rulings are signed.
- Not every Trump policy that resembles a Mandate proposal came from it. The White House says the president is carrying out the agenda he campaigned on, NPR reported.
- Not every Project 2025 proposal has been tried. Four of the fourteen we checked have seen no action, including ending Head Start and breaking up NOAA.
- Some chapters disagree with each other. The book prints competing chapters on trade and on the Export-Import Bank, so “Project 2025 says” can point two ways on those topics.
- A tracker percentage is not a measure of harm or benefit. It counts proposals, and one proposal can matter far more than another.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who created Project 2025?
The Heritage Foundation led it. The 2023 Mandate for Leadership lists 54 groups on the project’s advisory board, Heritage among them, and the volunteer Project 2025 Observer describes an alliance of more than 100. Paul Dans directed the project and edited the Mandate with Steven Groves.
Is Project 2025 still happening?
Yes, in the sense that proposals from it continue to show up in executive orders and agency rules. The Mandate itself was published in 2023 and has not changed, but trackers still log new actions that match it; the Project 2025 Observer marked one done as recently as August 12, 2026.
Who made the Project 2025 tracker?
There are several. The Project 2025 Observer began as a spreadsheet by two Reddit users and is maintained by volunteers. The Center for Progressive Reform and Governing for Impact run a second tracker focused on domestic agency actions.
Can Project 2025 be stopped?
Parts of it have been. The Supreme Court ruled in February 2026 that the emergency-powers law behind the reciprocal tariffs does not authorize tariffs, and a federal court in Oregon ruled in September 2026 that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s acting director must request its funding from the Federal Reserve. Congress has not passed the laws needed to abolish agencies, and orders signed by one president can be reversed by the next.
What You Can Do
-
Read the proposal before you share a claim about it. Use the page numbers above to check any quote in the full Mandate text. A checked quote persuades people that a paraphrase cannot.
-
Comment on the rules that carry it out. Agencies must take public comments before a final rule. Search open dockets on Regulations.gov and explain how a rule would affect you.
-
Watch what Congress does, not only the White House. The proposals that stalled needed a vote. Learn how executive orders differ from laws, and ask your members where they stand on bills that would lock in or reverse these changes.
-
Follow the civil service fight. Schedule F is the proposal the rest of the plan depends on. Our explainer tracks the rule and the lawsuits against it.
-
Write your representative. The letter below asks Congress to investigate how Project 2025 is being carried out and to restore staffing at agencies that serve the public. Our letter-writing guide shows how to make it land.