In response to Project 2025 architect Russell Vought describing the second phase of Project 2025 and saying his work has been “blessed” by Donald Trump, DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement: 

“Behind closed doors, chief Project 2025 architect Russ Vought confirmed Donald Trump has ‘blessed’ the work of Project 2025 architects as they work on the ‘second phase’ of their dangerous MAGA blueprint. Trump’s MAGA minion Russell Vought is saying out loud what Americans have seen all along: the Project 2025 agenda is the Trump-Vance ticket’s plan to gut checks and balances, ban abortion nationwide, and raise taxes for the middle class. Voters are ready to stop this horrifying and out-of-touch vision for the country by electing Vice President Harris and Governor Walz in November.”

NEW: Project 2025 chief architect Russell Vought was caught describing his extreme MAGA blueprint and the “second phase” of Project 2025 – saying Trump has “blessed” his work and that he expects to be in Trump’s inner circle if he wins.

CNN: “Hidden-camera video shows Project 2025 co-author discussing his secret work preparing for a second Trump term”

“Vought said his group, the Center for Renewing America, was secretly drafting hundreds of executive orders, regulations, and memos that would lay the groundwork for rapid action on Trump’s plans if he wins, describing his work as creating ‘shadow’ agencies. He claimed that Trump has ‘blessed’ his organization and ‘he’s very supportive of what we do.’ …

“In discussing Trump’s plan to carry out the largest deportation in US history – which the former president has called for publicly – Vought said the expulsion of millions of undocumented immigrants could help ‘save the country.’ …

“Vought served as the director of the Office of Management and Budget under Trump, where he made a name for himself as a policy wonk committed to the MAGA movement. In public, Trump repeatedly praised Vought for doing an ‘incredible’ and ‘fantastic’ job at OMB… 

“Vought also served as the policy director of the Republican National Convention committee that rewrote the GOP’s official platform this year – a sign of how central he is to Republicans’ policy goals… 

“‘I see what [Trump is] doing is just very, very conscious distancing himself from a brand,’ Vought said. ‘It’s interesting, he’s in fact not even opposing himself to a particular policy.’ …

“Trump and Vought have spoken at various times since leaving office, and the former president has adopted some of Vought’s ideas…

“Vought said in the meeting that he had a team of staffers working to draft regulations and executive orders that would translate Trump’s campaign speeches into government policy… 

“Those plans will not be made public, Vought said, but instead will be ‘very, very close hold.’

“[Micah Meadowcroft, the research director for the Center for Renewing America] described Vought’s work preparing executive orders and policy playbooks as ‘the second phase’ of Project 2025…

“The Washington Post and Associated Press previously reported that Vought was drafting a playbook for the first 180 days of a new Trump administration…

“Asked if he had been offered a job in a second Trump administration, Vought said no, but added, ‘I think there’s an expectation that I would go in.’”

REMINDER: Vought is drafting a secret playbook for Donald Trump and is a top candidate to be Trump’s chief of staff if he regains power.

Associated Press: “A chief architect of Project 2025 — the controversial conservative blueprint to remake the federal government — Vought is likely to be appointed to a high-ranking post in a second Trump administration. And he’s been drafting a so-far secret ‘180-Day Transition Playbook’ to speed the plan’s implementation to avoid a repeat of the chaotic start that dogged Trump’s first term…

“[Vought is] being mentioned as a candidate to be Trump’s White House chief of staff, one of the most powerful positions in government…

“Trump’s attempts to reject the [Project 2025] blueprint are complicated by the connections he has with many of its contributors. More than two dozen authors served in his administration, including Vought, who was director of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget.”

Vought and Project 2025 represent the worst of Trumpism and the Republican Party – they want to cut off all access to abortion and enact state surveillance of women.

New York Times: “Russell T. Vought, a former senior Trump administration official who ran the Office of Management and Budget, is celebrated by the anti-abortion movement for successfully blocking funds for Planned Parenthood during the Trump administration. He now runs a think tank with close ties to the former president that has backed arguments in a Supreme Court case attempting to undo the 2000 approval of mifepristone, a widely used abortion medication.”

Politico: “[Project 2025] also proposes increasing surveillance of abortion and maternal mortality reporting in the states, compelling the Food and Drug Administration to revoke approval of ‘chemical abortion drugs’ and protecting ‘religious and moral’ objections for employers who decline contraception coverage for employees.”

CBS News: “In recommendations for the Department of Health and Human Services, [Project 2025] calls for the Food and Drug Administration to reverse its 24-year-old approval of the widely used abortion pill mifepristone.”

Washington Post: “The [Project 2025] document, compiled with multiple people and groups who worked in and with the Trump administration, calls for erasing terms including ‘abortion,’ ‘reproductive health,’ ‘gender’ and ‘gender equality’ from ‘every federal rule, agency regulation, contract, grant, regulation, and piece of legislation that exists.’”

Vought wants to infuse Christian nationalism in a second Trump term, rescind protections for LGBTQ+ Americans while undermining efforts to pursue gender equity, and gut access to contraceptives.

Politico: “Trump allies prepare to infuse ‘Christian nationalism’ in second administration”

“Spearheading the effort is Russell Vought, who served as Trump’s director of the Office of Management and Budget during his first term and has remained close to him. Vought, who is frequently cited as a potential chief of staff in a second Trump White House, is president of The Center for Renewing America think tank, a leading group in a conservative consortium preparing for a second Trump term.”

“Vought has a close affiliation with Christian nationalist William Wolfe, a former Trump administration official who has advocated for overturning same-sex marriage, ending abortion and reducing access to contraceptives.”

“‘Russell Vought did a fabulous job in my administration, and I have no doubt he will do a great job in continuing our quest to make America great again,’ reads a Trump quote prominently placed on CRA’s website.”

“Vought’s beliefs over time have been informed by his relationship with Wolfe. The two spent time together at Heritage Action, a conservative policy advocacy group. And Vought has praised their yearslong partnership. ‘I’m proud to work with @William_E_Wolfe on scoping out a sound Christian Nationalism,’ he posted on X, then Twitter, in January 2023.”

Washington Post: “Project 2025 suggests closing the Gender Policy Council that Biden established in 2021 to advance gender equity and equality in areas including health, gender-based violence and education. The mandate also calls for Trump to reinstate the ban he established on transgender people in the military, which was overturned by Biden. And it calls for the next administration to ‘rescind regulations prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, transgender status, and sex characteristics.’”

CBS News: “In a section titled ‘The Family Agenda,’ [Project 2025] recommends the Health and Human Services chief ‘proudly state that men and women are biological realities,’ and that ‘married men and women are the ideal, natural family structure because all children have a right to be raised by the men and women who conceived them.’”

Newsweek: “There are other signs that access to contraception may be restricted under a new Trump administration. Project 2025, a plan prepared by right-leaning groups that aims to ‘pave the way for an effective conservative administration,’ includes plans to ‘Restore Trump religious and moral exemptions to the contraceptive mandate’ and ‘eliminate’ access to the week-after-pill, Ella, from it.”

FACT: Project 2025 is “undeniably a Trump-driven operation.”

Axios: “This is undeniably a Trump-driven operation. The biggest tell: Johnny McEntee — one of Trump’s closest White House aides, and his most fervent internal loyalty enforcer — is a senior adviser to Project 2025. One of the most powerful architects is Stephen Miller, a top West Wing adviser for the Trump administration.”

Politico: “Many of the authors of the blueprint are former Trump officials, and the Heritage Foundation has spent the past year-plus recruiting people to implement the plans within the administration, Scott said.

“‘So they don’t just have a long, sprawling policy document,’ he said, ‘they also have a growing list of staff who are being tested to see if they are loyal to Trump and if they are willing to administer this in his potential administration.’

“While groups like Heritage have put forward conservative policy proposals in the past, Scott said Project 2025 is distinct in that it’s so comprehensive and far-reaching.

“‘It has so many groups contributing to it. It’s the whole conservative policy movement gathered together,’ he said.”

The Week: “Many of Trump’s indicated plans for a second term fall in line with the Project 2025 outline.”

New York Times: “Roberts told me that he views Heritage’s role today as ‘institutionalizing Trumpism.’ This includes leading Project 2025, a transition blueprint that outlines a plan to consolidate power in the executive branch, dismantle federal agencies and recruit and vet government employees to free the next Republican president from a system that Roberts views as stacked against conservative power. The lesson of Trump’s first year in office, Roberts told me, is that ‘the Trump administration … simply got a slow start. And Heritage and our allies in Project 2025 believe that must never be repeated.’”

JD Vance also has deep ties to Project 2025 – Vought is a close ally of Vance, who has praised the extreme MAGA agenda as containing “good ideas.”

Vance: “I’ve reviewed a lot of [Project 2025]. There are some good ideas in there.”

Politico: Project 2025 author and RNC Platform Committee Policy Director Russ Vought is a “close ally of Vance.”

Politico: “Vought told POLITICO Magazine that he is in ‘regular contact’ with Vance’s Hill office and that ‘we probably have one of the closest relationships with [Vance’s] office that we do with any Hill office.’”

Axios: “J.D. Vance wrote foreword of upcoming book from Project 2025 architect”

Vox: “Vance is on record supporting these [Project 2025] ideas. Last year, he signed a letter demanding that the Justice Department prosecute physicians and pharmacists ‘who break the Federal mail-order abortion laws.’ In 2022, he said he was ‘sympathetic’ to the idea that the federal government should stop efforts to help women traveling out of their states to get abortions. … The second controversial area where Vance is sympatico with Project 2025 is centralizing presidential power over the executive branch.”

New Republic: “Project 2025 Leader Is Overjoyed by Trump’s Vice Presidential Pick”

Nick Corasaniti, New York Times: “[Heritage president Kevin Roberts] reacted to the news [of Vance’s VP selection] ‘with a broad smile on my face’ and said that ‘privately, we were really rooting for him.’”

Vox: “Kevin Roberts, the president of the right-wing Heritage Foundation and the driving force behind Project 2025, told Ward that ‘[Vance] is absolutely going to be one of the leaders — if not the leader — of our movement.’”

Vance: “I think that what Trump should do, like if I was giving him one piece of advice, is fire every single mid level bureaucrat, every civil servant… replace them with our people.”

Politico: “The résumés of Vance’s senior staffers read like a phone book for the New Right ecosystem in Washington: the Claremont Institute, American Compass, the Conservative Partnership Institute, Hillsdale College.”

Washington Post: “Vance urged DOJ to enforce Comstock Act, crack down on abortion pills”