In an effort to highlight the intensifying political landscape in the United States as election day draws near, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is strategically placing vulnerable Republican House members in the line of fire. This move comes as part of a campaign tying swing district Republicans to the controversial Project 2025, an expansive 900-page catalogue of policy proposals authored by the Heritage Foundation and supported by over 100 conservative factions.
The DCCC’s memo, exclusively seen by the New York Times, lobs accusations against susceptible House Republicans, alleging their endorsement of Project 2025. According to the Democrats, these lawmakers have unwaveringly embraced the principles of the former President Donald Trump and his radical agenda throughout the 118th Congress, a move that could spell trouble for their campaigns.
The contentious Project 2025 has not only received the backing of several Trump allies and ex-advisers, but its propositions also demonstrate a clear reflection of Trump’s past and current policy plans. However, the Trump camp has always maintained a safe distance from this plan. In a recent rally in Michigan, the former president labeled Project 2025 as “seriously extreme,” and denied having any knowledge about it.
House Republicans named as potentially vulnerable in the memo include Reps. Jen Kiggans (R-Va), Tom Kean Jr. (R-N.J), Brandon Williams (R-N.Y.), David Schweikert (R-Ariz.), and Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) – lawmakers whose respective districts sided with President Joe Biden in the 2020 elections.
Not sparing any punches, the Democrats’ memo scathingly criticizes Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, particularly referring to the significant reduction of the corporate tax rate from 35 to 21 percent. It further accuses Project 2025 of exacerbating the so-called “Trump Tax Scam,” by imposing higher taxes on millions of working-class families.
In relation to reproductive rights, the document highlights how Project 2025 views the Dobbs decision as just the beginning, while also laying bare the GOP’s attempts to limit access to mifepristone, an abortion pill, along with in vitro fertilization.
Leveraging Trump’s influence within the Republican Party, the DCCC posits that under Project 2025, House Republicans aim to serve Trump by following the Heritage Foundation’s plan to substantially reshape the executive branch. This includes reviving Schedule F, a Trump-era executive order making it relatively easier for presidents to sack civil servants and fill the vacancies with loyalists – an order that was promptly repealed when President Biden assumed office.
The DCCC sees Project 2025 not just as an embodiment of the right-wing fantasy but also a roadmap to record victories against House Republicans across the country. The ultimate goal appears to make Hakeem Jeffries the next Speaker of the House, thereby reclaiming Democrat control of the country’s lower chamber.
As election day draws closer, it remains to be seen how these moves will shape the political dynamics and whether the DCCC’s strategy will succeed in tying swing district Republicans to Project 2025 – a strategy they hope will sink the campaigns of these candidates.
