Reminder:
Kevin Roberts (current head of the wingnut American Heritage Foundation) was forced out of his position as Executive Chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi, after provoking fury by claiming that women in the advertising industry lacked ambition and were not held back by sexism.
I'll leave it at that, and trust in good people to see these assholes for the assholes they are.
Paul Dans, the director of Project 2025, has stepped down from the Heritage Foundation, its president said Tuesday.
Kevin Roberts, the Heritage Foundation's president, confirmed Dans' resignation in a statement to Newsweek.
"Under Paul Dans' leadership, Project 2025 has completed exactly what it set out to do: bringing together over 110 leading conservative organizations to create a unified conservative vision, motivated to devolve power from the unelected administrative state, and returning it to the people. This tool was built for any future administration to use," Roberts wrote.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), The Daily Beast's Roger Sollenberger wrote: "NEWS: Project 2025 director Paul Dans has stepped down at Heritage Foundation after pressure from Trump campaign leadership, ongoing power rift over staffing control for potential second Trump admin, per internal email. This suggests Project 2025 will likely shut down."
The Context
Project 2025 is a 900-page document created by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank that presents policy proposals for a future GOP administration.
Its policies include overhauling the federal bureaucracy, reversing many of the Biden administration's climate policies, rolling back abortion and LGBTQ+ rights, and changes to education standards, including the Head Start early education program. If implemented, critics say, the proposals would remake the federal government by replacing federal workers with Republican loyalists.
The proposals have drawn fire from Democratic critics and given Vice President Kamala Harris and her party an opportunity to win over young voters who disagree with the plans. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has sought to distance himself from Project 2025.
Newsweek reached out to the Heritage Foundation via telephone and email on Tuesday for comment.
What We Know
The project's policy drafting had as its deadline the Democratic and Republican conventions this summer, Roberts told Newsweek in his statement.
"When we began Project 2025 in April 2022, we set a timeline for the project to conclude its policy drafting after the two-party conventions this year, and we are sticking to that timeline," he wrote.
Roberts went on: "Paul, who built the project from scratch and bravely led this endeavor over the past two years, will be departing the team and moving up to the front where the fight remains. We are extremely grateful for his and everyone's work on Project 2025 and dedication to saving America."
Sollenberger said Dans' resignation "isn't ideological" and "doesn't mean Project 2025's goals and policies are rejected."
It was unclear exactly what prompted Dans to step down.
The Heritage Foundation's website lists Dans as the director of Project 2025, known formally as the 2024 Presidential Transition Project. In the position, he was responsible for organizing policy and personnel recommendations for the next presidential administration.
He previously served as the chief of staff at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in the Trump administration. He was also the office's White House liaison.
Trump has previously said he has "nothing" to do with Project 2025. Meanwhile, polls suggest the project is unpopular with voters.
Views
The news of Dans' resignation drew reactions on X (formerly Twitter).
"Don't worry, we ain't gonna forget that Team Trump wrote Project 2025," posted Representative Maxwell Frost, a Florida Democrat.
Amanda Carpenter, a writer and editor for Project Democracy, responded, "So the Trump campaign is saying it is not connected to Project 2025 but got the director of Project 2025 fired because of the blowback it is having on his campaign. Gotcha."
What's Next
Roberts offered some insight into the future of Project 2025 in his statement.
"Our collective efforts to build a personnel apparatus for policymakers of all levels—federal, state, and local—will continue," he wrote.
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