PRESS RELEASE: Governing for Impact, Center for Progressive Reform Launch Project 2025 Tracker to Monitor Actions of Second Trump Administration

New resource will track hundreds of Project 2025 proposals, provide reporters and civil society groups data on the administration’s executive action agenda

WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Governing for Impact (GFI) and the Center for Progressive Reform launched their joint Project 2025 Tracker to monitor the incoming Trump administration’s unilateral efforts to make the new infamous policy blueprint a reality. The tracker — which breaks out the domestic executive action proposals included in the 900-page blueprint — will be updated by GFI’s and the Center’s teams of regulatory lawyers as the Trump administration takes action, providing a comprehensive view of the administration’s implementation of Project 2025. 

Developed by the Heritage Foundation, Project 2025 provides a roadmap for the incoming administration to consolidate power in the presidency so that it can force through an ultra-right-wing agenda. The playbook proposes sweeping changes across 30 federal agencies that will have devastating consequences on workers, the environment, public health, and the rights of millions of Americans. 

“Despite wide media coverage of Project 2025, no centralized resource has been created to easily and comprehensively track its implementation, ” said Rachael Klarman, Executive Director of GFI. “GFI and CPR created the Project 2025 Tracker to close this gap, offering a vital resource for policymakers, legal experts, and advocates to monitor and respond to Trump administration actions. ”

“As a candidate, Trump made his repeated disavowals of Project 2025 a key part of his pitch to Americans to vote for him. That’s why the Center is committed to holding his administration accountable by closely tracking whether it lives up to this promise over the next four years,” said James Goodwin, Policy Director at the Center for Progressive Reform.

During his first term, Trump accomplished over two-thirds of the Heritage Foundation’s agenda. Trump attempted to distance himself from the playbook before the election, even saying he would “black list” people who signed on to the plan. But since November, Trump has appointed several Project 2025 authors to his administration, and already issued directives to implement many of its policies.

About Governing for Impact

Governing for Impact (GFI) is a regulatory policy organization dedicated to ensuring the federal government works for working Americans, not corporate lobbyists. The policies we design and the legal insights we develop help increase opportunity for those not historically represented in regulatory policy implementation work: working people. For additional information about GFI, please visit https://governingforimpact.org/.

About the Center for Progressive ReformThe Center for Progressive Reform is a nonprofit research and advocacy organization that conducts independent scholarly research and policy analysis, and advocates for effective, collective solutions to our most pressing societal challenges. For additional information about the Center, please visit https://progressivereform.org/.

American Prospect: Executive Action Reaction: Day 1

But earlier this month, the researchers at Governing for Impact (GFI) made the case that rescheduling federal workers is wholly unlawful. Essentially, the order blows open a narrow exception to civil service protections for senior political officials and applies it to thousands of career workers across the government.

The Guardian: Trump administration sued over order making it easier to fire federal workers

“You have to go through the process before you can undo a regulation,” said Will Dobbs-Allsopp, policy director at Governing for Impact, a left-leaning thinktank.

NOTUS: Vulnerability of Schedule F

 A memo from Governing for Impact out this morning argues accepted wisdom about the legality of Schedule F is wrong, and OMB nominee Russell Vought cannot actually reclassify top civil servants, strip them of their due process protections and fire them, at least not without facing a credible challenge in court.

Law360: Policy Experts Push For Regulatory Reform On Child Labor

Policy experts Nina Mast and Reed Shaw are calling on the U.S. Department of Labor to issue new regulations on child labor in order to address higher rates of violations, injuries and school absenteeism, particularly in light of state efforts to roll back protections.

News Nation: Child labor violations on the rise, problem could get worse: report

Child labor violations are increasing, and over two dozen states have made moves that are exacerbating the issue, a recent report by Governing for Impact, the Economic Policy Institute and Child Labor Coalition says. 

Common Dreams: Report Warns Trump Would Likely​ Worsen GOP’s Assault on Child Labor Laws

A number of mostly Republican-controlled states have weakened child labor protections in recent years and a second Trump administration would likely escalate the deregulatory push, as per plans laid out in Project 2025, according to a report released Wednesday.

The Guardian: Report calls for child labor protections as Project 2025 seeks to roll back rules

State governments across the US are taking steps to eliminate protections for minors as rates of child labor violations, injuries and chronic school absenteeism rise, according to a report released on Wednesday.

The report by Governing for Impact, the Economic Policy Institute, and Child Labor Coalition proposes actions the Biden-Harris administration can take in response to a recent surge in child labor violations around the country and a trend of some states passing legislation that rolls back state-level child labor protections.

Cap Times: How an obscure federal law could be used to ban abortion nationwide

A 150-year-old law governing the U.S. Postal Service could be used by a conservative presidential administration to ban abortion nationwide, and a new study suggests that thousands of Wisconsin women would lose reproductive health care in the process.

The study was released by progressive-leaning policy think tank Governing for Impact and describes how a president could interpret an 1873 anti-vice law known as the Comstock Act to ban abortions.

PRESS RELEASE: Governing for Impact Statement on Supreme Court Decision to Overturn Chevron

Regulatory policy group highlights the implications and consequences of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Chevron v. NRDC

WASHINGTON, DC Governing for Impact Executive Director Rachael Klarman released the following statement:

“The Supreme Court’s decision is the latest in a line of extreme decisions that puts the interests of corporate law breakers, polluters, and anti-labor activists over the interests of the American people. However, the immediate impact of today’s decision may be limited. The Supreme Court has not relied on Chevron in a number of years. As a result, the Court has already dramatically intruded into the policy making process an area once thought to properly belong under the purview of the two democratically elected branches of the federal government and courts around the country have followed their lead, increasingly eschewing Chevron deference. The Biden Administration has also smartly been preparing for Chevron’s formal demise over the last four years and has not relied on the doctrine to defend its rules.

As a result, Loper Bright’s impact will depend on how we respond. Rather than self-limiting, advocates must continue to urge federal agencies to use every legal authority at their disposal to enact strong rules that protect consumers, workers, and the public.”

About Governing for Impact

Governing for Impact (GFI) is a regulatory policy organization dedicated to ensuring the federal government works for working Americans, not corporate lobbyists. The policies we design and the legal insights we develop help increase opportunity for those not historically represented in regulatory policy implementation work: working people. For additional information about GFI, please visit https://governingforimpact.org/.

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