The scope, depth, and coherence of the strategy reflect a highly organized attempt to remake American democracy into a Christian nationalist, executive-dominated system...

Essay: Project 2025 Tracker – An Authoritarian Blueprint in Motion

by ChatGPT-4o

As of mid-2025, the “Project 2025 Tracker” reveals an extraordinary—and alarming—acceleration of policy rollbacks and restructurings spearheaded by Donald Trump’s administration. The scale, speed, and ideological clarity of the changes reflect the systematic implementation of The Mandate for Leadership, a policy blueprint promoted by the Heritage Foundation and other right-wing organizations. This agenda is not merely about “undoing Biden,” but about a full-scale remaking of the American administrative state along reactionary, theocratic, and authoritarian lines. In this essay, I assess the actions already taken, what they signify for U.S. governance and society, and the long-term risks posed should this trajectory continue.

I. What Is Currently Happening?

The Tracker shows that over 300 objectives have been defined, with over 100 already completed—many within the first six months of Trump’s second term. These actions span nearly every federal agency, with sweeping effects in five core domains:

1. Erosion of Civil Rights and Liberties

• LGBTQIA+ Rollbacks: Trans people are barred from military service; protections under Title IX, HIPAA, and Section 1557 of the ACA have been rescinded; federal agencies are ordered to scrub all mention of gender identity and sexual orientation.

• Reproductive Rights: EMTALA requirements to provide abortion care in emergencies have been withdrawn. The administration is aggressively dismantling abortion access by stripping Planned Parenthood of funding, blocking aid that includes reproductive health, and reactivating the Comstock Act to ban mailing of abortion pills.

• Education Policy: Civil rights offices within the Department of Education have been shuttered or gutted, Title VI and Title IX protections weakened, and an executive order has mandated a binary definition of gender.

2. Centralization of Presidential Power

• The use of the Congressional Review Act has revoked key Biden-era regulations.

• Independent agencies such as the EPA and SEC have been placed under tighter White House control.

• Security clearance authority has been transferred to the Executive, while whistleblower protections and DOJ independence are being undermined (e.g., eliminating DOJ consent decrees, discouraging politically inconvenient prosecutions).

3. Weaponization of the Justice System

• Federal prosecutors have been directed to deprioritize FACE Act prosecutions and to stop supporting abortion-related legal protections.

• DOJ resources are now targeting public librarians, educators, and DEI programs.

• Civil rights enforcement has been reassigned from the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division to the Criminal Division, signaling a potential shift from protecting rights to criminalizing dissent.

4. Environmental Deregulation and Climate Retrenchment

• The U.S. has withdrawn from the Paris Agreement and gutted Biden’s clean energy agenda.

• The EPA has fired over 380 staff, eliminated the Office of Environmental Justice, and paused $20 billion in grants.

• Protected areas are being reopened for drilling, fracking, and mining (e.g., Alaska’s Arctic Refuge, Tongass National Forest), while the Roadless Rule, Antiquities Act, and National Monuments are under threat.

5. Deconstruction of the Welfare State

• Programs such as Medicaid, SNAP, Head Start, and LIHEAP are facing cuts, block grants, or elimination.

• Work requirements are being proposed for safety-net programs.

• Title I and IDEA education funds are set to be turned into “no-strings” grants or phased out entirely.

II. What Does This Mean for American Society?

A. Democratic Backsliding and Authoritarian Drift

Project 2025 functions as an authoritarian playbook. Its sweeping restructuring of government institutions and its blurring of the lines between state and religion (e.g., prioritizing funding for evangelical groups) undermines the liberal democratic foundation of the U.S. The administrative state—long viewed by conservatives as a “deep state”—is being purged, politicized, and repurposed for loyalist control.

B. Civil Liberties in Peril

Marginalized communities are under direct assault. Immigrants, LGBTQIA+ individuals, women, and racial minorities face systemic disenfranchisement. Civil rights offices are being closed. Title IX protections have been gutted. Even basic data collection on LGBTQIA+ people is being halted—erasing them from official narratives.

C. Privatization and Crony Capitalism

From Medicaid to education to weather forecasting (via NOAA), public services are being hollowed out or commercialized. Anti-ESG rhetoric fuels deregulation, while climate denial shapes energy policy. Public media (PBS, NPR) and watchdog agencies (e.g., CFPB) are being defunded, creating space for partisan propaganda and market capture.

D. Immigration as a Police State

Trump’s policies reflect a near-total shift from humanitarian immigration policy to one rooted in mass detention, surveillance, and militarization. He has increased cooperation with local law enforcement, revived "Remain in Mexico", frozen asylum, and proposed the dismantling of legal safeguards for immigrant children.

E. Educational Indoctrination

Federal funds are being redirected to private and religious schools under the guise of “school choice.” Efforts to erase “critical race theory” and “gender ideology” from curricula are paired with plans to break up the Department of Education altogether. The goal is to create an educational system that reinforces right-wing ideology and parental control aligned with traditionalist values.

III. What Might Happen Next?

If unchecked, the Trump administration’s direction could lead to:

1. Expanded Presidential Autocracy: The accumulation of executive power is transforming the U.S. presidency into an unaccountable institution. With Schedule F revived and the NSC, OIRA, and CEQ stacked with loyalists, institutional resistance is vanishing.

2. Collapse of Rights-Based Governance: Repeals and executive orders are erasing decades of progress in civil rights, labor protections, environmental stewardship, and healthcare.

3. Environmental Crisis Acceleration: The abandonment of climate science and regulation guarantees further ecological degradation, worsened natural disasters, and broken international commitments.

4. Erosion of Global Leadership and Credibility: Retreats from the UN, WHO, and other multilateral bodies isolate the U.S. and embolden autocrats globally.

5. Surveillance and Repression: With the suppression of CISA’s election security efforts, elimination of advisory boards, and proposed criminalization of dissenting educators and civil servants, the foundations for repression are being laid.

Conclusion: A Nation at the Edge

The Project 2025 Tracker shows not just a return to Trump-era policy, but the deliberate acceleration of an illiberal political transformation. The scope, depth, and coherence of the strategy reflect a highly organized attempt to remake American democracy into a Christian nationalist, executive-dominated system that rewards loyalty, punishes dissent, and enshrines a narrow conception of morality into law.

While some actions have been blocked in court, many are already implemented or in progress. The silence of opposition parties, the weakening of democratic norms, and the gradual normalization of authoritarian language and tactics should alarm every citizen and policymaker who believes in pluralism, rule of law, and rights-based governance.

The coming months will be decisive. Will America resist—or will it continue down the path of democratic erosion, privatized governance, and institutional decay masked by the rhetoric of "freedom" and "faith"?

Recommendations

• Civil society must mobilize in defense of administrative independence and minority protections.

• Media outlets and legal advocacy groups should enhance tracking, transparency, and litigation against unlawful overreach.

• Congress must reassert its powers and pass laws that cannot be undone by executive fiat.

• Allies abroad should be prepared for a U.S. that may no longer act as a reliable partner in global democratic governance.

The fate of American democracy may depend on how soon—and how forcefully—resistance to Project 2025 organizes itself.