Paul Dans, the director of Project 2025 at the Heritage Foundation, is stepping down from his role after leading the initiative for the past two years. Under his leadership, Project 2025 aimed to bring together conservative organizations to create a unified vision for devolving power from the administrative state and returning it to the people. The project involved over 110 leading conservative organizations and was designed as a tool for any future administration to use. Dans announced in an email to staff that the initiative’s work is winding down, and he will be leaving Heritage next month. The project’s advisory board member mentioned that the work is likely to continue, including submitting policy recommendations for a potential second Trump term.
Dans’ departure from the Heritage Foundation comes amid efforts by former President Donald Trump to distance himself from Project 2025 and its policy agenda, which outlines a blueprint for overhauling the executive branch under a Republican administration. Trump’s campaign reiterated that Project 2025 was not associated with the campaign and should not be linked to the former president in any way. Despite this, Democrats and Vice President Kamala Harris have highlighted the project’s policy guide, which spans nearly 900 pages, as evidence of why voters should reject Trump in the upcoming election. Trump has expressed unawareness of the agenda and criticized some of its policy proposals, while acknowledging that experts who contributed to it had served in his administration.
Numerous pro-Trump groups have recently withdrawn from Project 2025, including America First Legal led by former Trump advisor Stephen Miller. Dans, who served as chief of staff at the Office of Personnel Management and as the agency’s White House liaison during the Trump administration, is among the officials who contributed to the project’s policy guide. He was appointed by Trump to chair the National Capital Planning Commission in January 2021, but President Biden removed him from the post after taking office. Other former Trump administration officials who contributed to Project 2025’s policy guide include Russ Vought, Chris Miller, and Ben Carson.
Despite the project’s completion of drafting policy recommendations and its efforts to unify conservative organizations, Dans’ departure signals a shift in the project’s future direction. With the Republican National Convention having already taken place and the Democratic National Convention approaching, Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts emphasized that Project 2025 will stick to its timeline for finishing policy-drafting post-conventions. The project aimed to create a conservative vision focused on empowering the people and reducing the influence of the administrative state. Dans’ exit from the Heritage Foundation marks the end of his leadership role in the initiative, with potential implications for its ongoing efforts to shape policy and influence future administrations.
