Jesus Christ, we’re not done yet. We’ve actually got a bit of a ways to go. I’ve broken up the people named in the Mandate for Leadership into two broad categories: 1) Those who did the wordcraft, so editors, writers, so on and 2) Those listed as contributors. I don’t actually think this distinction matters as much as it sounds like it would. “Contributor” is a bit of a vague title. It could mean they proffered policy ideas, handed over things like data and legislative history summaries, committed research, or even helped draft, advise, and edit the document. For section three we’re going to talk about the named authors, editors, and the dude in charge of it all. Section four will be looking at the contributors.
3.1 Kevin Roberts
To kick things off, let’s start with Kevin Roberts. Roberts is the president of The Heritage Foundation, the notorious hate-group behind project 2025 and its disastrous plan for the United States called the Mandate for Leadership, which, based on the groups backing it and the ideas it pushes, would be more correctly known as the Mandate for Christian Nationalism and the Destruction of Secular Democracy.
Roberts wrote the foreword to the Mandate for Leadership, wherein he wrote the screed about banning pornography and how “gender ideology” counts as porn because he desires to change the definition of the genre entirely so that it has nothing to do with art that is created for titillation and is instead just art, ideas, and people that Kevin doesn’t like. That’s because Kevin neither understands nor cares about freedom of speech or expression and only cares about forcing his worldview on the rest of us. That’s a bit redundant to say after having already told you he’s the president of the Heritage Foundation. That’s like clarifying a member of the KKK is a racist. That’s the whole deal.
In an interview with the New York Times, he claims Biden didn’t win the 2020 election and says that Heritage has a super secret database proving all this fraud… that they didn’t prove in court to overturn the election because he knows he’s talking out of his ass and the believers in this conspiracy are motivated by a desire to destroy democracy. He also praises notorious villain of history Joe McCarthy.
Madeline Peltz apparently got a hold of Roberts’ upcoming book and positions that one of his complaints is that women belong in the domestic sphere but it’s hard to force them all back into the kitchen when some women don’t want kids or don’t marry men. It makes one wonder if Project 2025 is opposed to abortion because it’s supposedly “pro-life” or because, as it seems here, they think abortion unshackles women from the home? Colin Dickey also read the book and frames it as Roberts, upset and confused by a world that has moved beyond his hatred, would like to force his version of Christianity on the American public. Roberts is part of the conservative push for those Sabbath laws in Project 2025, you know, the ones where it doesn’t matter what your faith is but what your employer’s faith is? He also wants to rid us of birth control and would like families to enter poverty to make sure that they’re quiverfull, something he doesn’t seem to have an interest in doing himself.
If you’ve heard of Roberts in any recent news cycles in 2024, if you’re watching this at some other point, hopefully you have no idea who he is, you’ve probably mostly heard something about revolution. That’s right. Kevin Roberts is LARPer. Talking to Steve Bannon, he said, “We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.” I’m going to point out a parallel that will annoy both lines. Roberts is very similar to a faction on the left that also LARPs about a revolution that isn’t going to happen. Why is this? Is it because horseshoe theory is real? I don’t look at horses because they’re evil, so I don’t know. What I will say is that what LARPists tend to share is a commitment to populism. Yes, I will continue my crusade against populism. No politic based on “I will give you the correct people to hate and harm” is a politic worth anything.
So Roberts wrote the foreword to Project 2025. Any guesses who wrote the foreword to this bigoted moron’s Christian nationalist wishlist book? It’s a Trump connection. That’s right. Champion Donut purchaser JD Vance.
3.2 Paul Dans
Next we’re going to get to the two editors of Project 2025. First up we have Paul Dans, the former director of Project 2025. After everyone and their ancestors said, “What is this scary extremist nonsense?” including Trump, who wants to pretend it’s a fringe project and not one spearheaded by the leading conservative political groups and actors, Dans stepped down from both P2025 and the Heritage Foundation.
Want to know a fun fact about the guy who used to be in charge of Project 2025? He also used to work for the Trump Administration. Of P2025 and Trump, Dans said, “this is ultimately his direction and his team’s direction.” It sounds like everyone behind P2025 is pretty confident that, despite what his campaign might say, Trump is highly invested in the group’s extremist aims. And those aims, for the majority of its conception and development, have been aimed by a man painted by reporting in ProPublica as petty, childish, and prone to paranoia and conspiracy.
3.3 Steven Groves
Our second editor also happened to work for the Trump Administration. You may remember his name in passing from when we went over Project 2025 Daddy Dom group The Heritage Foundation. Their own bio on him talks about how he was on the legal team for the Mueller investigation and later became the Deputy Press Secretary, so one of the lying mouthpieces for Trump’s inability to ever once consider speaking sensibly or honestly about anything. A fun bit about Groves being on the team is that even if Trump had lost the 2024 GOP primary, the nominee wouldn’t be free from the Project’s stink. His closest competition, former Ambassador and Headmistress of the School of Spineless Bootlickers Nikki Haley, employed Groves. So that’s fun.
3.4 Daren Bakst
Now we’re on to the authors of the Mandate for Leadership. They list the authors in alphabetical order instead of in order of appearance in the document. This is the only time I’m going to take their lead on something, so I’ll tell you what bit they wrote and the PDF page, not the doc page, where you can find their contribution.
Bakst wrote Chapter 10 on the Department of Agriculture, PDF page 322. His main organization appeared in this video when we looked into Competitive Enterprise Institute in part 1 - 20. Though before he joined them, he was another whacko working for the Heritage Hate Group. That makes sense for someone who writes about how we shouldn’t be making sure our kids are able to eat.
3.5 Jonathan Berry
Berry is a sort of dingleberry hanging off of Trump. Or, in other words, this author worked for the Trump administration. His chapter, page 614, is on the Department of Labor. That chapter is one of those moments where the Mandate isn’t good at hiding that it’s just a Christian Nationalist wishlist. He’s the one who puts out that “You should force businesses to observe the Sabbath but the extra pay only kicks in on a specific day based on the employer’s religion, and has nothing to do with the religious belief of the workers.”
He wrote an article saying that labor policy should aim to help people better serve God. He put that out there while I was writing this video, and he keeps up with his government mandated Sabbath observation thing because Berry very much does not believe in a pluralistic society with true freedom of religion. But hey, maybe that’s why Trump employed him.
3.6 Lindsey M. Burke
Dr. Burke works for organizations of noted disgrace Independent Women’s Forum, see section 1 - 38, and the Heritage Foundation. She wrote the hateful chapter 11. Page 352, over the Department of Education where she goes on about how conservatives would like public education to stop existing. Glancing through her articles at Heritage don’t reveal anything of interest. That’s because you can’t be all the interesting when your life’s passion is despising education.
3.7 David R. Burton
Burton is one of three authors that teamed up to talk about the Treasury Department on page 724. He too works for Heritage.
3.8 Adam Candeub
You know what Candeub Can-do for you? Enable the destructive, cruel, and criminal tendencies of Donald Trump. He was a high ranking figure of Trump DOJ. Candeub is high in the alphabet but late in the Mandate with his FTC chapter appearing on page 902. He’s one of those people pushing for age verification laws. If you look at the results and risks of such laws, what they don’t end up doing is protecting children. Their effect, like I discuss in my video over NSFW art and censorship, is purely a restriction of speech and internet censorship. I assume the professor is aware of this. The important question that must be asked of Professor Candeub any time he is interviewed is if he was aware of how Project 2025 define pornography. I can only assume that he thinks any media that includes trans people or information on being transgender should be age restricted. That would unsurprisingly make the professor a transphobic bigot and a danger to the very concept of free speech.
3.9 Dustin J. Carmack
Yet another author who works for Heritage and who, once upon a time, worked for Trump. It’s almost like Heritage isn’t a fringe conservative group and Project 2025 isn’t insulated from Trump world. It’s almost like they’re all very interconnected. Carmack wrote the chapter on US Intelligence, page 234. Oh hey, he also connects to DeSantis, Mr. Third Place. But hey, at least Meta hired him. Great job Zuck.
3.10 Brendan Carr
Carr wrote the chapter on the FCC, page 878. That makes a degree of sense because Trump went and stuck him on the FCC.
3.11 Dr. Benjamin S. Carson, Sr.
Ben Carson, the king of standing on the sidelines, was a Trump cabinet member, heading up HUD. So of course he wrote Project 2025’s chapter over HUD. PBS makes it seem like Carson and Trump still have a good relationship. Based on the interview with Carson they did, I wouldn’t be surprised if Trump picked him as HUD secretary once again.
3.12 Ken Cuccinelli
His coochie worked for Trump. I know, so shocking. Cuccinelli wrote the chapter on Homeland Security. Oh, what’s that? He was appointed illegally? Trump broke the rules to give him power? Woah.
3.13 Rick Dearborn
Dear Rick was apparently born to serve the worst instincts of conservatives, attributing both to this awful document and having worked for the Trump Whitehouse. He wrote the very first chapter of the Mandate, talking about the White House Office.
3.14 Veronique de Rugy
de Rugy wrote the first half of chapter 23 over the import export bank. Glancing through her articles, it does seem like she’s willing to go on the offense against literally anyone that disagrees with her which is something, I guess, but she’s mostly an economic analyst so I don’t find her particularly interesting to talk about.
3.15 Donald Devine
An old man from the disastrous Reagan administration worked with two others to talk about stuffing the government with conservative MAGA die-hards in chapter 3.
3.16 Diana Furchtgott-Roth
Diana FR worked for real for real for Trump, but at least she was also there with both Bushes too just to make sure we all know this isn’t a recent problem. She wrote the chapter on the Department of Transportation. Glancing at her articles for Heritage, she really despises green energy.
3.17 Thomas F. Gilman
Gilman needs those Gils to breathe when his head was lodged far up the ass of the Trump Administration. Gilman authored the chapter on the Department of Commerce.
3.18 Mandy M. Gunasekara
Yet again, a Heritage worker was a member of the Trump administration. She wrote their bit about the EPA.
3.19 Gene Hamilton
How does a Trumpist, moron, member of Trump’s administration, write for the Mandate for Leadership a chapter on the Department of Justice? A connection undeniable to P-2-0-2-5. I’m done with that. He’s a member of Stephen Miller’s America First Legal group and you know the pinnacle of being a good person is working with insane rascist Stephen Miller.
3.20 Jennifer Hazelton
There sure are a ton of writers for Project 2025 who worked for Trump, including Hazelton. She wrote the second half of the export-import bank chapter so even worse for us, she contributed to one of the more boring sections to get through.
3.21 Karen Kerrigan
Will she make you care again about how awful the conservative movement is in the US? She wrote the chapter on the Small Business Admin.
3.22 Dennis Dean Kirk
His name is very close to being Dunkirk. Wouldn’t it be nice to watch a Christopher Nolan movie instead of thinking about politics and have to be concerned with how conservatives want to control the rest of us? I truly recommend taking a break in your life soon to make time to watch some movies. It’s good for you. Oh, also this dude worked for Trump and worked with Devine and Dans to talk about how there need to be more political appointees.
3.23 Kent Lassman
Lassman’s CEI was section 1 - 20 in this video. He wrote the latter half of the trade chapter.
3.24 Bernard L. McNamee
Guess which name-ees McNamee worked for? If you guess Trump and Cruz, you’d be right. I know, a convicted felon and the Zodiac killer. Stellar track record. He wrote the chapter on the Department of Energy.
3.25 Christopher Miller
Miller was a bit of a big shot in the Trump admin. He wrote the DOD chapter. At least in Decemebt 2023, Trump seemed to want him back in as head of the DOD. It’s hard to say you have nothing to do with and want nothing to do with Project 2023 when you’re looking to employ its creators.
3.26 Stephen Moore
According to Newsweek, Moore worked for the Trump campaign and was a Trump nominee but withdrew because he’s a sexist pig. Guess hating women can only get you the presidency, not a senate approved position. He helped write the Treasury chapter.
3.27 Mora Namdar
You’re going to be so shocked when I say this: Namdar worked for Trump. She wrote the first half of the Media Agencies chapter.
3.28 Peter Navarro
You know what Navarro has in common with his former boss Donald Trump? They’re both convicted criminals! As he implied it at the RNC, he went to jail in order to protect Trump. He wrote the first half of the trade chapter. Given his reception at the 2024 GOP convention, he can’t be dismissed as fringe. If anything, he proves that Project 2025 is not fringe. It is the culmination of the GOP’s entire project.
3.29 William Perry Pendley
Pending, pending, pending. Inevitable information downloaded. Pendley is a Trump appointee who wrote a chapter for the Mandate for Leadership. His chapter was on the Interior.
3.30 Max Primorac
Nothing says Prim and Proper like working for the hate group the Heritage Foundation and the hatemonger Donald Trump. He wrote the chapter on US AID.
3.31 Roger Severino
I’m sure you know what I’m about to say. This dude works for Heritage and worked for Trump. He wrote the chapter on HHS which means, I’m sure you can guess, his views on COVID aren’t great. He’s the brainchild behind removing “nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people when it comes to health care and health insurance,” according to NPR, because he is a bigot and the Trump admin was anti-queer and would be anti-queer.
3.32 Kiron K. Skinner
She had skin in the game in the Trump administration. Skinner wrote the chapter on the State Department, meaning she’s the one touting the Geneva Consensus with a bunch of countries who despise women because they also hate abortion and that’s good enough for her.
3.33 Brooks D. Tucker
The D stands for Donald Trump because that’s who he used to work for before coming to the Mandate to write their chapter on Veterns Affairs.
3.34 Hans A. von Spakovsky
The A stands for A man who worked for Trump. He wrote the chapter on the FEC. That might make you think he’s an election denialist who hates democracy. He didn’t actual join in on the conspiracies around 2020 and trying to install Trump as king, but he does run around the place whispering about how there’s totally a ton of voter fraud going on all over the place which maybe sounds like the foundations for election denial both from 2020 and going forward. When Trump contests his 2024 loss, look for Spakovsky’s work to be cited in the inevitable court cases.
3.35 Russ Vought
Guess who worked for Trump! Russ Vought. He wrote the chapter on the presidency. His group Center for Renewing America is section 1 - 17 in this video. Vought would very much like to force us to live in a nation under the heavy cross of his version of Christianity. Is this Christian nationalist still connected to Trump? Well, according to the him, he’s been busy making drafts and policies for Trump’s second administration with Trump’s blessing. He also helped create the mind-numbingly incompetent GOP 2024 platform. And he expects a position in the Trump admin.
3.36 William L. Walton
Another Trump person, part of his transition team this time, who wrote a chapter. He contributed to the Treasury chapter.
3.37 Paul Winfree
And for the last time, all together not everyone, he worked for Trump! Hopefully he stays true to his name and remains win-free by having Proejct 2025 lose in every one of its campaigns. He wrote the chapter on the federal reserve.
And those are the authors of project 2025. Between them, the editors, and the dude overseeing it all, 29 out of 37 people worked for Trump. An additional one has connections to his VP JD Vance. Seventy eight percent.
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