Section 1.2: Executive Office of the President of the United States
“In Federalist No. 47, James Madison warned that “[t]he accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.”
This statement has all of the self-awareness of a dog licking its own ass in public, to quote popular commentator Jim Wright. Concentrating the power behind only the President, as Vought is arguing for, is the very definition of “accumulating all powers in the hands of one”, which as he admits it follows, would be the “definition of tyranny”.
Full contextual analysis of Section 1.2: Executive Office of the President of the United States here.
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(A conservative President should return power to) “America’s families, faith communities, local governments, and states.”
By including “faith communities” in this statement, he is advocating for Christian nationalism.
Full contextual analysis of Section 1.2: Executive Office of the President of the United States here.
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“The Director must view his job as the best, most comprehensive approximation of the President’s mind as it pertains to the policy agenda…”
This is about how the OMB (Office of Management and Budget) should be governed. He goes on to imply that the Director of the OMB should be comfortable operating outside of the law, in order to enact the President’s agenda: “In addition, many key considerations involved in enacting a President’s agenda hinge on existing legal authorities. The Director must ensure the appointment of a General Counsel who is respected yet creative and fearless in his or her ability to challenge legal precedents that serve to protect the status quo.” (Project 2025, Section 1.2: Executive Office of the President of the United States, Russ Vought, page 78, paragraph 2.)
“Respected, yet creative” in terms of following the law is…certainly an interesting way to describe your ideal government official.
Full contextual analysis of Section 1.2: Executive Office of the President of the United States here.
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“In addition, many key considerations involved in enacting a President’s agenda hinge on existing legal authorities. The Director must ensure the appointment of a General Counsel who is respected yet creative and fearless in his or her ability to challenge legal precedents that serve to protect the status quo.”
He implies here that the Director of the OMB should be comfortable operating outside of the law, in order to enact the President’s agenda.
Full contextual analysis of Section 1.2: Executive Office of the President of the United States here.
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“The President should use every possible tool to propose and impose fiscal discipline on the federal government. Anything short of that would constitute abject failure.”
By Vought’s own assertion here, Trump’s administration was an abject failure, considering that he exploded the National Debt..
Full contextual analysis of Section 1.2: Executive Office of the President of the United States here.
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“Additionally, the President should revise and sign an updated version of President Ronald Reagan’s Executive Order 1263018 on federal takings.”
This has to do with safeguarding private property against the federal government taking it without just compensation. Vought is unclear what needs to be changed about this, but it’s a safe bet that it will have something to do with forcibly seizing people’s private land at the border to build a wall. Reagan’s act, issued in 1988, has not been substantially altered since its inception.
Full contextual analysis of Section 1.2: Executive Office of the President of the United States here.
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“The next President should work with Congress to pass significant regulatory policy and process reforms, which could go a long way toward reining in the administrative state. Excellent examples of such legislation include the Regulatory Accountability Act, SMART Act, GOOD Act, Early Participation in Regulations Act, Unfunded Mandates Accountability and Transparency Act, and REINS Act.”
This is another argument for deregulation.
Full contextual analysis of Section 1.2: Executive Office of the President of the United States here.
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“…the NSA should immediately evaluate and eliminate directorates that are not aligned with the President’s agenda and replace them with new directorates as appropriate that can drive implementation of the President’s signature national security priorities.”
This is another argument for staffing the government with loyalists to the Project 2025 agenda, not to the country.
Full contextual analysis of Section 1.2: Executive Office of the President of the United States here.
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“The NSC should rigorously review all general and flag officer promotions to prioritize the core roles and responsibilities of the military over social engineering and non-defense matters, including climate change, critical race theory, manufactured extremism, and other polarizing policies that weaken our armed forces and discourage our nation’s finest men and women from enlisting to serve in defense of our liberty.”
The term “social engineering” here refers to policies or initiatives aimed at changing societal behaviors or values within the military, such as those related to diversity, inclusion, or addressing systemic racism. “Non-defense matters” likely refers to issues like climate change, which Vought sees as unrelated to the military’s core mission. Vought is arguing that policies related to climate change, CRT, and similar issues are deterring potential recruits from joining the military.
In fact, studies show that MOST Americans would discourage a young person from enlisting in the military17 (unless as an officer), and the Military itself issued a statement counter to Vought’s assertion that politicization of the military is hindering recruitment efforts: “Military recruiting officials on Wednesday dismissed concerns that perceptions of an increasingly politicized military are undermining their pitches to young Americans, saying instead that unfamiliarity with military life poses a bigger barrier to efforts in boosting enlistments.” [Source]
In 2020, Vought ordered the Air Force to stop using training materials that mention race. [Source]19 Vought called diversity and unconscious bias training intended to create inclusive environments “un-American propaganda training sessions.” He is deeply, deeply racist.
Full contextual analysis of Section 1.2: Executive Office of the President of the United States here.
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“The People’s Republic of China’s predatory trade practices have disrupted the open-market trading system that has provided mutual benefit to all participating countries—including China—for decades.”
Vought is criticizing the WTO (World Trade Organization) for failing to discipline China for their unfair trading practices. However, this study by the Cato Institute found that “If the Trump administration really does want the Chinese economy to be more market-oriented, it should make better use of WTO rules by filing more complaints against China. While it is often accused of flouting the rules, China does a reasonably good job of complying with WTO complaints brought against it.”
Full contextual analysis of Section 1.2: Executive Office of the President of the United States here.
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