“Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise”
— an 887-page document proposing to remake the executive branch, department by department, agency by agency, office by office
— is an off-the-shelf governing plan for a leader who took office last time with no clear plan and no real ability to govern.
The book which was edited by Paul Dans and Steven Groves of the #Heritage #Foundation, is not about anything as simplistic as being dictator for a day but about #consolidating #authority and #eroding #accountability for the long haul.
It calls for a relentless #politicizing of the federal government, with presidential appointees overpowering career officials at every turn and agencies and offices abolished on overtly ideological grounds.
Though it assures readers that the president and his or her subordinates “must be committed to the Constitution and the rule of law,” it portrays the president as the personal embodiment of popular will and treats the #law as an #impediment to conservative governance.
It elevates the role of #religious #beliefs in government affairs and regards the powers of Congress and the judiciary with dismissiveness.
There may be plenty worth jettisoning from the executive branch, but
“Mandate for Leadership” is about #capturing the administrative state, not unmaking it.
The main conservative promise here is to wield the state as a tool for concentrating power and entrenching ideology.
#project2025 #authoritarianism
#heritagefoundation
#TrumpIsJustATool
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/29/opinion/project-2025-trump-administration.html
