Throwing the Book: Democrats Enlarge Copy of ‘Pro…

CHICAGO (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris and Democratic allies turned the 2025 Project into one of their most effective tools against former President Donald Trump’s campaign. Now they’ve taken the fight over the conservative-written playbook to a bigger scale.

Mallory McMorrow, a 37-year-old state senator from Michigan, pulled out a giant copy of the roughly 900-page “Mandate for Leadership” on Monday night, the first night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. She slammed it on the podium, then made a face that signaled how heavy it was as she opened it to start reading.

“They went ahead and wrote down all the extreme things Donald Trump wants to do in the next four years,” McMorrow said from the stage. “We read it.”

Trump insists Project 2025 is not affiliated with his campaign and denies any knowledge of the Heritage Foundation, which is overseeing its own transformation effort with the help of dozens of his allies and former aides. Democrats have been trying for months to pin the most radical proposals of Project 2025 on Trump.

DNC officials plan to talk about The 2025 Project every night of the convention. McMorrow said in an interview Tuesday that he is a “keeper of the book” and that the book will be given to a new speaker each night.

“There will be others who will pick up the book’s baton,” she said, before again joking about the book’s burden. “This won’t be the last time you see this Cheesecake Factory menu.”

What is Project 2025?

The 2025 Project was created by the Heritage Foundation as a playbook for the next Republican administration. It has attracted much attention because it was developed by longtime allies and former Trump administration officials.

The document outlines a drastic expansion of presidential power and a plan to fire up to 50,000 government workers to replace them with supporters of the president. It calls for the closure of the U.S. Department of Education and the dissolution of the Department of Homeland Security, with its various parts being absorbed into other federal offices.

The plan states that the Department of Health and Human Services should “deliver an ambitious agenda” to protect the “fundamental right to life.”

Democrats falsely claimed it also proposed “cutting Social Security.” The document contains no proposals to cut Social Security, even though the Heritage Foundation, which oversaw it, has long pushed for changes to entitlements.

Where does this gigantic book come from?

The idea for a scaled-up version of The 2025 Project first came about a few weeks ago when Harris campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez contacted McMorrow about speaking at a convention about The 2025 Project.

McMorrow said she had never addressed a crowd in the stands before and wanted to create an event that would “have a high visibility both at home and in the arena.”

In an interview, she joked that the book weighs as much as her three-year-old daughter and that it is entirely filled with original text from Project 2025.

“Having the book on the podium played a big role in what we wanted to do,” McMorrow said.

Pennsylvania state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta was expected to carry the book on Tuesday, followed by Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and U.S. Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado, according to a person familiar with the plans who disclosed them on condition of anonymity.

Who is behind the project?
in 2025?

Some of the people involved in Project 2025 are former senior administration officials with deep GOP ties. The project’s former director, Paul Dans, served as chief of staff at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management under Trump.

Former Trump White House budget chief Russell Vought was a key architect of the plan and has also been appointed to the Republican campaign platform committee.

John McEntee, a former director of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel in the Trump administration, was a senior adviser. McEntee told the conservative news site The Daily Wire earlier this year that the Project 2025 team would integrate much of its work into the campaign after the summer, when Trump announces his transition team.

What does Trump say about Project 2025?

Trump has tried to distance himself from Project 2025 and denied knowing who is behind the plan.

Tom Homan, who oversaw U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under Trump, cautioned against hyping the project, adding that Washington think tanks prepare plans for new administrations that are not always followed.

Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida, a key Trump supporter, criticized how much Democrats are talking about the plan.

“This is not a problem for the president because the president has already officially stated that he has nothing to do with this,” Donalds said. “Their focus on Project 2025 is insane.”

The decision to make Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance his vice presidential candidate was seen by some as another tie-in with the 2025 Project. Heritage CEO Kevin Roberts said he was good friends with Vance and that the Heritage Foundation was privately rooting for him to be elected vice president.

Vance wrote the foreword for Roberts’ new book, which was due out in September but has been postponed as Project 2025 is in turmoil. Roberts is holding off on releasing his potentially fiery new book until after the presidential election in November.

___

Gomez Licon reported from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Associated Press writer Meg Kinnard in Chicago contributed to this report.