Conservative groups have crafted a sweeping plan to remake the government — and the U.S. — in a second Trump term.

What is Project 2025? 
Drawn up by the Heritage Foundation and a network of more than 100 other conservative groups, the 2025 Presidential Transition Project is an elaborate and painstakingly detailed agenda for a second Donald Trump administration. In a 920-page manifesto titled Mandate for Leadership, Heritage head Kevin Roberts says Project 2025's goal is to combat "cultural Marxism" and "rescue our kids, reclaim our culture, revive our economy, and defeat the anti-American Left." To do that, the initiative calls for thousands of conservative activists to be placed in federal agencies, an aggressive expansion in presidential power, and the imposition of pro-life, pro-religion, anti-immigrant, anti-environmental policies on the nation. In essence, Project 2025 is a playbook to avoid the failures of the first Trump administration, when pushback from bureaucrats and Cabinet members — as well as Trump's own chaotic approach — prevented many hard-right policies from being implemented. The mistakes of those years "must never be repeated," said Roberts, who has described his goal as "institutionalizing Trumpism." 

How would it work? 
The first step would be the mass firing of civil servants and their replacement with MAGA loyalists. The manifesto calls for the reintroduction of Schedule F, a Trump-era executive order that would allow up to 50,000 nonpartisan federal workers to be reclassified as political appointees — and then fired at will by the president. Backed by tens of millions of dollars from donors, Project 2025 is vetting potential administration recruits with the aim of having up to 20,000 candidates in a database by the end of the year. That "army" will "begin dismantling the administrative state from Day 1" of a new Trump term, said Roberts. With obstructionist bureaucrats removed, Project 2025 could focus on other concerns. The Justice Department, for example, would fall under the president's direct control, opening the door for Trump to pursue his promised "retribution" against adversaries, including President Biden. 

What's the plan for abortion? 
Mandate for Leadership outlines a wholesale crackdown on reproductive rights. Every U.S. state would be required to tell the Department of Health and Human Services "exactly how many abortions take place within its borders, at what gestational age of the child, for what reason, the mother's state of residence, and by what method." FDA approval for the abortion pill mifepristone would be rescinded, while the 150-year-old Comstock Act — which criminalizes the mailing of drugs or devices used in abortions — would be resurrected. Employers would be allowed to decline contraception coverage on "religious and moral" grounds. Sensing this agenda could be a vote loser in November, some conservative activists have called for those involved in Project 2025 to stay quiet on abortion. "Pro-life groups should keep their mouths shut as much as possible until the election," said former Trump lawyer Jonathan F. Mitchell. 

How about immigration? 
Project 2025 calls for the "indefinite curtailment" of refugee admissions, using the military to arrest undocumented migrants at the border, and massive cutbacks in legal immigration. Some 500,000 so-called Dreamers — undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children — would lose their legal shield from deportation. Not mentioned in the manifesto are even more draconian proposals supported by Trump and other Project 2025 figures, including the repeal of birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. to undocumented migrants and sweeping immigration raids on workplaces and neighborhoods. Local police officers and National Guard troops would be deputized to help round up undocumented migrants, who would be held at vast military-built detention camps. Trump would circumvent the Posse Comitatus Act, which bars the use of the armed forces for domestic law enforcement, by invoking the Insurrection Act, said Stephen Miller, who spearheaded immigration policy in Trump's first term. "Bottom line," said Miller, "Trump will do whatever it takes." 

Does Project 2025 have an economic plan? 
Some proposals in Mandate for Leadership follow a traditional conservative approach. Social Security could be privatized, the document notes, and personal and corporate taxes slashed. "Extreme 'green' policies" would be axed. That includes the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which directs some $400 billion in federal funds to support the clean energy transition. Project 2025 also recommends the shuttering or repurposing of numerous offices connected to climate science and renewable energy, loosening the Endangered Species Act, and expanding oil and gas drilling in the Arctic. 

Could this really happen? 
Many Project 2025 proposals would be vulnerable to legal challenges, and it's not clear whether Trump is on board with the entire plan. He often appears driven more by approval than ideology, and some of the initiatives are deeply unpopular — and more extreme than Trump's own positions. His campaign routinely notes that Trump has not endorsed Project 2025, and that policy proposals from allied outside groups are "speculative and theoretical." Still, Trump has spoken at length about launching the government takeover that's central to Heritage's plans. "We will throw off the sick political class that hates our country," he declared last year. What is clear is that conservative groups are determined to arm Trump with the agenda needed to achieve his goals, and theirs. Project 2025, said Harvard political scientist Theda Skocpol, is "full prep for an authoritarian takeover."

The Hungarian model 
To see how Project 2025 could remake the U.S. government, Heritage Foundation president Roberts points to Hungary. The central European country is "not just a model for conservative statecraft," he says, "but the model." Since winning office in 2010, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has waged a largely successful campaign to turn his country into an "illiberal democracy" rooted in "Christian values." Orban has systematically undermined democratic institutions and norms in Hungary, from the courts — which are stacked with lackeys — to the election system, to the media (Orban controls public television, while his allies dominate private outlets). A hard-line opponent of LGBTQ rights and immigration — he has said he wants to prevent Europe from becoming "mixed race" — Orban met with Trump last month and spoke at a closed-door meeting at Heritage's Washington headquarters. There's "no better" leader than Orban, Trump said. "He's a noncontroversial figure because he says, 'This is the way it's going to be,' and that's the end of it. Right? He's the boss."

President Biden must ignore the network news execs pushing him to debate Donald Trump, said David Frum in The Atlantic. In a joint statement, 12 news organizations last week called on the two candidates to commit to a pre-election debate, saying the televised event would be a "competition of ideas" where they could argue their policies "with each other, and before the American people." That'd be fine if both men were normal candidates — but one is an aspiring autocrat willing to use violence as a political tool. After losing the vote in 2020, Trump incited a mob to attack the Capitol, hoping his supporters would "terrorize, kidnap, or even kill his own vice president" to stop Biden's victory from being certified. This "conspiracy to overthrow the Constitution" is the only issue that should matter in November — it's not something to be debated alongside inflation or immigration policy. Imagine hearing Anderson Cooper attempt this pivot: "We'll get to Mr. Trump's alleged violent coup in a moment, but in this segment, we are discussing food prices." Joe must say no. 

"Trump has already indicated he wants to debate," said Zachary Faria in the Washington Examiner. The question is whether the 81-year-old Biden — who's been noncommittal so far — has the stamina and mental acuity to take part in a two-hour-long forum. Sure, the Democrat can skip the event and claim he's doing so to defend democracy. But if Biden chooses not to go toe-to-toe with a "rambling, mediocre debater in Trump," it'll only prove "he is unfit for office." Look, "Trump is a giant hypocrite for skipping the GOP primary debates and then insisting that Biden has 'an obligation' to debate him," said Jim Geraghty in National Review. But Biden has already bailed on the softball traditional pre-Super Bowl interview twice. If he fails to appear at an autumn debate, undecided voters will regard it as "Biden waving the white flag of surrender." 

Why should Biden gift Trump a platform to "spew misinformation or conspiracy theories to a large audience?" asked Marcela García in The Boston Globe. And did anyone learn anything from their 2020 debates, where Trump ranted over Biden, prompting the Democrat to say, "Will you shut up, man?" Four years later, most voters have fixed opinions about Trump and Biden. The few remaining undecided Americans have plenty of other places to get informed about the candidates — news sites, policy documents — where the fate of democracy isn't treated like a reality show. So if this is the end of the televised presidential debate, all I can say is "Good riddance." 

Shonda Rhimes is terrified by some of her fans, said Decca Aitkenhead in The Sunday Times (U.K.). The creator of hit series such as Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, and Bridgerton, Rhimes used to tell interviewers how much she enjoyed interacting online with her show's devotees. Not anymore. "Fans have passionate feelings, and I was always fine with that," says Rhimes, 54. "I understand that the characters felt like their friends. They were my imaginary friends too. That's why I was writing them." But about a decade ago, "it became weird."

After each season finale of Grey's Anatomy, she had to have a police cruiser parked outside her Los Angeles home because of death threats from viewers who were angry about the ending. Eventually, Rhimes needed 24-hour security. "I wanted to just be able to walk out my front door and hang out with my kids and not be worried. I would lay awake at night with stress." She says famous friends who'd been through similar situations told her "if you can't live normally, then you're not going to be able to live."So, in 2020, Rhimes moved with her three children to a state she won't name. "I am not interested in being anybody's lightning rod. You say something and suddenly you're like a poster child for what's wrong with America or whatever. It's creepy and it's disturbing to me."