Fresh Conservative Projects Target the Deep State

What’s happening: As the 2024 election looms, major conservative organizations are executing a promising political strategy: challenging the unchecked power of unelected bureaucrats by flooding the next president’s administration with tens of thousands of conservative staffers.

War on the “deep state”: The Heritage Foundation — one of the nation’s most influential conservative policy institutes — is spearheading an effort alongside Project 2025 to recruit and train conservative operatives for positions in government.

The strategy: Project strategists formulated a playbook of executive orders and initiatives for the president-elect to accomplish during the first 180 days of his administration.

• It worked before: In 1980, Ronald Reagan distributed the Heritage Foundation’s recommendations to members of his cabinet, and implemented 60 percent of them.

What's in the mandate? Purported measures include using federal power to restore the family, eliminate ideologically-charged language from legislation, curb immigration’s effects on the economy, and halt climate fanaticism.

• They aren’t alone: The Heritage Foundation has 100 coalition partners for Project 2025. One partner, American Moment, has amassed thousands of contacts for young conservative staffers.

The long-haul: American Moment seeks young, politically-passionate individuals who can become senior staffers in 10 years. This strategy could halt institutional pushback against Republican policy-making.

Why it matters: The scale and scope of the group’s political strategy is unprecedented. It signals a fundamental shift in the conservative movement's playbook by addressing political issues at their institutional roots.

A newfound apparatus: A Project 2025 spokesperson told Upward News that this endeavour is unparalleled in its ambition to replace D.C’s long-standing political class. He proffered that the current administrative state led to “the establishment’s wish list being prioritized and the bolder, more conservative priorities getting put on the back burner.”

A bright future: When asked what a new administration will be able to accomplish that wasn’t possible pre-Project 2025, the spokesperson said, “if Project 2025 is utilized by the next president, the speed, efficiency, and volume at which his agenda can be executed will shock people. The deep state will be routed, and President Trump can finally have the win his administration deserves.”