Paul Dans, Director of Project 2025, steps down
By Emma Siebold
Project 2025 Director Paul Dans announced he is stepping down after the project received criticism from the Trump administration. The plan is a 900-page document seeking to reshape the federal government, put together by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
Project 2025 has been used to attack former President Trump on the campaign trail for its extreme steps toward rebuilding a conservative government – which include disbanding the Department of Education, enforcing a federal death penalty and stopping federally-funded abortion.
However, Trump has since distanced himself from the Heritage Foundation and the Project. In a recent interview on Fox News, Trump said he had no part in writing or supporting the plan, and he said many of the points were “absolutely ridiculous.”
Dans and Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts have attempted to tie the Trump campaign to the project since it was drafted in 2022. While Trump has denied affiliation, his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, recently wrote the foreword to Roberts’ book “Dawn’s Early Light: Taking Back Washington to Save America.”
In the foreword, Vance wrote, “We are now all realizing that it’s time to circle the wagons and load the muskets. In the fights that lay ahead, these ideas are an essential weapon.” In an interview with Newsweek, Vance ensured that Project 2025 had no affiliation with the Trump campaign, but did say he supported some of the plan’s ideas. He also said that Democrats’ attacks on the project were fear tactics.
Former President Trump, Vance, and Vice President Kamala Harris are set to campaign this week. Trump will field questions from the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago on July 31 while his running mate tours the Southwest. Predicted to announce a running mate as soon as next week, Harris spoke to a supportive crowd in Atlanta on Tuesday.
Three weeks ahead of the Democratic National Convention, the latest Ipsos/Reuters poll showed Harris up one point over Trump, holding onto 43 percent of registered voters compared to Trump’s 42 percent.