OPINION: Project 2025: Creating a Polarizing Path for 2024

Over the break, LGBTQ+ activists assembled in the LGBT Center of New York City for the “Stop the Coup 2025” rally, protesting the right-wing “Project 2025” initiative. The message was clear — if the ideas coming out of Project 2025’s 1,091-page mandate were instituted, it would not only do irreversible damage to the LGBTQ+ community, but it would also rupture our democratic system.

The activists’ worry is valid; the Project 2025 policy is appalling. The writers of the mandate wish to introduce several draconian measures that would significantly damage non-supporters. The project is meant to be implemented if a Republican candidate won, though it is without a doubt geared towards a Donald Trump return. Here are just a few things the project would like to institute.

The project wants to create a new executive branch centralized under the president. To execute this, these thinkers want to eliminate the independence of the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission. They also want to disband the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. Our entire system of checks and balances would be undone if this plan is implemented.

Why were all these departments chosen? Simple, these institutions attempted to stand up to Trump's authoritarian aggression.

Although all these institutions the project wants to terminate are essential to the bureaucratic system, none is more crucial than the Department of Justice.

In a broad sense, the executive branch is the branch of government responsible for implementing policy that the legislative branch is supposed to make. It's powers include being commander-in-chief during war, creating treaties and being our representative for foreign countries.

However, these powers have been extended over time, making the existence of the DOJ even more important during our current period to slow this growth.

The DOJ places a check on the president by being able to prosecute crimes against the presidents as they are in Trump’s recent indictment over insurrection charges. The DOJ is also responsible for protecting our citizens' civil rights against civil rights violations.

What’s most unsettling about this extremist project is that we have no gauge for the magnitude of its potential political prowess. What we do know about this project is that it has the support of several influential conservative media members.

One of the most influential members of its team is Turning Point USA, a political group that attempts to educate students on conservatism.

There is circumstantial evidence that the project is affiliated with the Trump regime. Paul Dans, the chief of staff at the Office of Personnel Management during Trump's administration, is the director of Project 2025. The project's associate director, Spencer Chretien, is also a former Trump staffer. Mark Meadows, the leader of the Conservative Partnership Institute, is part of the advisory board for Project 2025 and was chief of staff for Trump. Meadows was indicted alongside Trump for pressuring electors in Georgia.

How can our government fight off this blatant attempt to dismantle democracy?

It is simple — bridge the current divide by promoting media literacy. Trump holds tightly a deck of lies and half-truths in his back pocket, making him the most alienating politician in our country. To end extremism, we must fight off these falsehoods.

Luckily, programs like the News Literacy Project attempt to tackle this issue; however, their reach is limited. The next step in pursuing the truth is governmental involvement in educating our youth. Our government is to take charge by funding these projects. Then, a bridge will extend to our representatives so they can do something we can all agree on — change our country for the better.

To learn more about news literacy on campus, I would recommend taking a class pertaining to journalism. Not only are there entire segments in the class dedicated to fact-checking, it might also show you your own unintentional bias when crafting your articles.