The Heritage Foundation’s mission is to formulate and promote public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.[1] It’s now fifty years old functioning as a Washington D.C. non-profit headquartered in Washington, D.C. It exists to advance a deep conservative agenda and has a national reputation through its sister organization, Heritage Action. That sister has significant influence in far-right politics.
Heritage Action
In August 1973, Heritage Action launched its campaign to overturn the Affordable Care Act, leading to the October 2013 government shutdown.[2] During the shutdown, Heritage Action continued to urge lawmakers not to negotiate a measure to fully fund the government without dismantling the ACA.[3] The strategy of Heritage Action in tying the ACA to the shutdown, according to Michael Needham, the organization’s CEO at the time, was to make President Obama “feel pain” because of the shutdown.[4]
“In 2021, according to an internal Heritage Action document, a “two-year effort” was planned to work with like-minded groups to “produce model legislation for state legislatures to adopt” and to hire lobbyists in “crucial states”. The same year, Heritage Action published a report that listed its goals as limiting who can vote by mail, preventing ballot collection, banning drop boxes, enacting stricter voter identification laws, restricting early voting, and providing greater access to partisan election observers.[5]
The 2016 Trump Candidacy
At the outset, the Heritage Foundation had a dim view of Trump. “In July 2015, appearing on a Fox News panel, the leader of Heritage Action, the foundation’s advocacy arm, said, “Donald Trump’s a clown. He needs to be out of the race.” The following month, in August, a Heritage Foundation economic writer, Stephen Moore, criticized Trump’s policy positions, saying, “The problem for Trump is that he’s full of all of these contradictions. He’s kind of a tabula rasa on policy.” In December 2015, then Heritage Foundation executive vice president Kim Holmes, opposing Trump’s candidacy, criticized Trump as “not a conservative.” Holmes also criticized Trump supporters, writing that, “they are behaving more like an alienated class of Marxist imagination than as social agents of stability and tradition. They are indeed thinking like revolutionaries, only now their ire is aimed at their progressive masters and the institutions they control,” he wrote.[6] Then Heritage president Jim Demint “praised both Rubio and Cruz but said that he couldn’t ‘make a recommendation coming from Heritage’.[7]
Heritage Foundation Funding & Trustees
In 1973, businessman Joseph Coors contributed $250,000 to establish the Heritage Foundation and continued to fund it through the Adolph Coors Foundation. The foundation’s trustees have historically included individuals affiliated with Chase Manhattan Bank, Dow Chemical, General Motors, Mobil, Pfizer, Sears, and other corporations.[8] Because it is a tax-exempt 501 (c) (3) organization it is not required to disclose its donors and donations under the current laws that guide tax-deductible organizations.
In the 1980s, the Heritage Foundation reportedly received a $2.2 million donation from South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, South Korea’s intelligence agency, then known as the Korean Central Intelligence Agency.[9] As of 2010, the foundation reported that it had 710,000 individual financial contributors.[10]
National Conservatism
Beginning incrementally in 2022, the Heritage Foundation began publicly embracing national conservatism as its guiding ideology.[11]
“In May 2022, the Heritage Foundation completely reversed its position supporting military aid to Ukraine in its attempt to repel the Russian invasion of the nation, which it had previously supported. Following the reversal of its position on military aid to Ukraine, the foundation claimed, Ukraine Aid Package Puts America Last. In September 2022, the foundation’s foreign policy director said the foundation ordered him to retract his earlier statements supporting aid to Ukraine; he subsequently left the organization. In August 2023, Thomas Spoehr, the foundation’s Center for National Defense director, resigned his position over the dramatic policy change.[12]In March 2023, the Heritage Foundation established a cooperative relationship with the Danube Institute, a Budapest-based state-funded think tank founded in 2013. On July 12, 2024, Heritage stated a conspiracy theory that Biden could attempt to remain in office following the 2024 election by force, and that the 2024 election was illegitimate in advance.[13]
Project 2025
Project 2025 is
- “Building now for a conservative victory through policy, personnel and training. The actions of liberal politicians in Washington have created a desperate need and unique opportunity for conservatives to start undoing the damage the Left has wrought and build a better country for all Americans in 2025. It is not enough for conservatives to win elections. If we are going to rescue the country from the grip of the radical Left, we need both a governing agenda and the right people in place, ready to carry this agenda out on day one of the next conservative administration.
- This is the goal of the 2025 Presidential Transition Project. The project will build on four pillars that will, collectively, pave the way for an effective conservative administration: a policy agenda, personnel, training, and a 180-day playbook.
- The project is the effort of a broad coalition of conservative organizations that have come together to ensure a successful administration begins in January 2025. With the right conservative policy recommendations and properly vetted and trained personnel to implement them, we will take back our government.
- The 2025 Presidential Transition Project is being organized by The Heritage Foundation and builds off Heritage’s longstanding “Mandate for Leadership,” which has been highly influential for presidential administrations since the Reagan era. Most recently, the Trump administration relied heavily on Heritage’s “Mandate” for policy guidance, embracing nearly two-thirds of Heritage’s proposals within just one year in office.”[14]
Donald Trump and Project 2025
The Business Insider headlined its July 16, 2025, news with this: “Project 2025 is Moving Ahead Whether Trump is Elected or Not.”[15]
“Former President Donald Trump is attempting to distance himself from Project 2025, a political road map created by The Heritage Foundation that lays out steps Republican activists can take during the next presidency to enshrine extreme conservative policies into law and, critics argue, erode the US government’s checks and balances. But while Trump’s ties to the project are deeper than he admits, some experts on political extremism and pro-democracy activists say one real cause for concern is how the ideology behind the playbook can — and is — moving ahead with or without him. The architects of the plan will continue to try to push forward its policy goals through the courts and Congress no matter who is elected — and even without Trump’s complete endorsement, issues central to the playbook are already incorporated into his platform.”
Project 2025 is a 900-page playbook for “conservative activists to follow in the first 180 days of the next Republican administration to “bring quick relief suffering from the Left’s devastating policies.” It runs on autopilot. The policy goals laid out in the plan don’t require the direct involvement of the presidency at all. It’s focused on action at the federal level and can be advanced by local and state governments, or ruled on by sympathetic judges. SCOTUS has already eroded the power of the executive branch by a polarized, conservative-majority court — align with Project 2025 policy goals to deconstruct the administrative state and strengthen the ‘presidential will.’”[16]
People.com headlined its coverage with this: “What Is Project 2025? Inside the Far-Right Plan Threatening Everything from the Word ‘Gender’ to Public Education.” They say it’s a blueprint for marrying church and state at the highest levels of government if Trump is elected.[17]
At the time of this writing, the RNC is holding its nominating conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel headlined its coverage: Project 2025 Spells out Second Trump Term In Alarming Detail. That Is No Stretch. “If put into effect, it has the potential to cause immense harm to minority communities, women of childbearing age, undocumented immigrants, public education, diversity, equity and inclusion programs, unions, and the LGBTQ community.”[18]
Democratic Warning
“The Democratic National Committee, President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign, and Democratic lawmakers have seized on Project 2025 in recent weeks — a unifier for the party message after Biden’s poor debate performance exposed party fractures. The Biden campaign and its surrogates continued their weeks-long focus on the project Tuesday at a “counter convention” press event around the corner from the hotel where Trump is staying [before his speech at the RNC Nominating Convention.] It’s all written down in Project 2025, ‘Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler said at the event, which was primarily focused on economic policies outlined in the plan.’ “Donald Trump and J.D. Vance want to ransack the public treasury to hand out massive tax cuts to billionaires and stick working Americans with the bill. Democratic U.S. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey joined the event and warned that Project 2025 would affect Social Security. ‘When you’ve worked all your life and paid into Social Security, and you hear what Republicans are trying to do, from their policy groups, in Congress, all the way to what you’ve heard and read in Project 2025, folks that want to limit benefits,’ Booker said.”[19]
Who Wrote Project 25?
About two-thirds of authors and editors involved in Project 2025’s plan served in the Trump administration. HUD Secretary Ben Carson, acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller, Deputy White House Chief of Staff Rick Dearborn, former OMB director Russ Vought, and top DHS official Ken Cuccinelli contribute chapters, just to name a few. And John McEntee, the White House personnel director who purged officials viewed as disloyal to Trump, has a key role in collecting staff recommendations for the project. CNN reported that at least 140 former Trump administration officials were in some way involved in it.[20]
Ethics and Morality—Project 2025
Project 2025, despite its 900-page length, does not mention ethics, morality, accountability, transparency, or honesty. And irrespective of the fact that it is tax-free, and focused highly on government policy, goals, methods, personnel, and long-term effect on every person in the U.S., citizen in America, it is silent on ethics.
“Government ethics applies to the processes, behavior, and policy of governments and the public officials who serve in elected or appointed positions. The role of government and its officials is to serve the public interest with ethical awareness and ethical actions. When governments serve the public interest and avoid engaging in behavior that promotes any private interests, they are acting for the common good.”[21]
“On taking office, every public servant, elected or appointed, enters into a covenant with the people: that as a public official, they will seek to promote the public interest in all political processes and ensure that policy adoption and service provision occur without favoritism or discrimination. Moreover, a public official must not use her or his position for personal gain and should avoid even the appearance of having a conflict of interest. An ethical awareness of the obligation to act in the public interest will normally promote fairness and justice, and advance the common good.”[22]
What are the chances that Project 25 will include an ethics plan, along with its plans to reframe American policy and democracy to fit an ultra-right government?
[1] https://www.heritage.org/about-heritage/mission
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heritage_Action
[3] Moody, Chris (October 9, 2013). “Meet one of the conservative advocacy groups behind the GOP’s government shutdown strategy”. Yahoo! News.
[4] McCormack, John (October 9, 2013). “Heritage Action’s Shutdown Strategy”. The Weekly Standard. Archived from the original on October 14, 2013.
[5] Corasaniti, Nick; Epstein, Reid J. (March 23, 2021) [Updated 7 April 2021]. “G.O.P. and Allies Draft ‘Best Practices’ for Restricting Voting”. The New York Times.
[6] “Donald Trump: At Home in Postmodern America” Archived March 29, 2024, at the Wayback Machine, Public Discourse, December 14, 2015
[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Heritage_Foundation#:~
[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Heritage_Foundation#:~:text=Founded
[9] David W. Kreutzer (August 3, 2011). “Subsidizing Natural-Gas Technology” (PDF). waysandmeans.house.gov. The Heritage Foundation. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 19, 2014. Retrieved December 2, 2013.
[10] David W. Kreutzer (August 3, 2011). “Subsidizing Natural-Gas Technology” (PDF). waysandmeans.house.gov. The Heritage Foundation. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 19, 2014. Retrieved December 2, 2013.
[11] “National conservatives” are forging a global front against liberalism”. The Economist. London. February 15, 2024. Archived from the original on February 20, 2024.
[12] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Heritage_Foundation#:~:text=Founded%20in%201973%2C%20it%20took,including%20its%20Mandate%20for%20Leadership.
[13] Arnsdorf, Isaac (July 11, 2024). “Trump allies at Heritage declare 2024 election illegitimate in advance”. The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on July 13, 2024. Retrieved July 13, 2024.
[14] https://www.project2025.org/about/about-project-2025/
[15] https://www.businessinsider.com/project-2025-heritage-foundation-donald-trump-elected-2024-
[16] Ibid.
[17] https://people.com/what-is-project-2025-inside-far-right-plan-trump-presidency-8622964
[18] https://www.jsonline.com/story/opinion/columnists/james-causey/2024/07/17/project-2025-jd-vance-heritage-foundation/74416748007/
[19] https://marylandmatters.org/2024/07/17/on-outskirts-of-rnc-heritage-foundation-touts-controversial-project-2025-plan/
[20] https://www.vox.com/politics/360318/project-2025-trump-policies-abortion-divorce
[21] https://www.scu.edu/government-ethics/resources/what-is-government-ethics/
[22] Ibid.
I am an author and a part-time lawyer with a focus on ethics and professional discipline. I teach creative writing and ethics to law students at Arizona State University. Read my bio.
If you have an important story you want told, you can commission me to write it for you. Learn how.
I am an author and a part-time lawyer with a focus on ethics and professional discipline. I teach creative writing and ethics to law students at Arizona State University. 
My latest novel is Hide & Be. 
If you have an important story you want told, you can commission me to write it for you. 