Originally at talkingpointsmemo.com
One of President Trump’s most obvious lies of the 2024 presidential campaign was just exposed … by a Republican congressman.
Project 2025, the nearly one thousand page blueprint for a potential Trump administration, became a lightning rod during the campaign cycle when Democratic Party candidate Kamala Harris and her allies pointed out it contained a series of shocking and extreme policy proposals designed to aggressively expand the limits of presidential power and impose a right wing social agenda. Faced with the criticism, Trump repeatedly insisted he had “nothing to do with Project 25.”
However, now that Trump is in office, Rep. John Rose (R-TN) has essentially admitted that was not true at all. In fact, Rose credited Project 2025 with helping Trump hit the ground running with a spate of executive orders that mirror many of the authoritarian and retrograde ideas presented in the document.
“How do you think the president was prepared to issue all these executive orders?” Rose said in an interview with the Tennessee publication the Williamson Scene. “How do you think they were prepared to make all of these appointments in such quick succession after he got into office? Project 2025.”
Rose’s comments last week came just before he launched a gubernatorial campaign in his home state. His office and the White House did not immediately respond to TPM’s requests for comment.
Of course, Trump’s efforts to distance himself from Project 2025 were always laughable. The Heritage Foundation-led effort, which included a database of possible hires along with the policy blueprint, was packed with Trump’s associates and staffers from his first administration. Since his victory in last year’s election, Trump has also built out his current team with a bunch of Project 2025 authors and contributors. The roster of Project 2025 alums in the second Trump administration includes Russell Vought, who authored a chapter detailing “a plan for the executive branch” and is now leading the powerful Office of Management and Budget, which was a core part of his vision for the White House.
Naturally, Trump and the many Project 2025 alums in his administrations have, thus far, implemented an agenda that closely matches the right-wing blueprint.
There’s nothing surprising about Rose’s remarks. What’s notable is that he said the quiet part out loud.
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