Skip to content
Project 2025
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories
Governor Cox’s Prayer Wasn’t Just Misguided—It Was Dangerous

Governor Cox’s Prayer Wasn’t Just Misguided—It Was Dangerous

Charlie Kirk’s Death Sparks Martyrdom Narrative Amid Rising Political Violence

Charlie Kirk’s Death Sparks Martyrdom Narrative Amid Rising Political Violence

Donald Trump and the Rise of Political Violence

Donald Trump and the Rise of Political Violence

Supreme Court

MAGA Supreme Court Justices Show Their True Colors by Joining Trump’s Attack on the Federal Judiciary

Project 2025: The intelligence community

Seal of the Office of he Director of National Intelligence
Lynn Schmidt
By Lynn SchmidtJul 26, 2024
Lynn Schmidt
Lynn Schmidt is a syndicated columnist and Editorial Board member with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Lynn earned her Masters in Political Science from the University of Nebraska-Omaha and holds a BS in Nursing from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
See More Writings by author

Schmidt is a syndicated columnist and editorial board member with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

This is part of a series offering a nonpartisan counter to Project 2025, a conservative guideline to reforming government and policymaking during the first 180 days of a second Trump administration. The Fulcrum's cross partisan analysis of Project 2025 relies on unbiased critical thinking, reexamines outdated assumptions, and uses reason, scientific evidence, and data in analyzing and critiquing Project 2025.

The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 chapter on the intelligence community has almost nothing to do with its advertised subject matter and focuses almost exclusively on the past and possible future conservative president. It looks backwards at the so called wrongs done to Donald Trump while not looking forward to protecting America from future threats.

The 32-page chapter, part of a larger blueprint for a second Trump administration, reads like a retribution manifesto for Trump and his perceived grievances with the U.S. intelligence community. As with related chapters focused on national security, Project 2025’s recommendations for the intelligence community would protect one man and make the rest of America and the world much less safe.

The national security apparatus’s mission should be focused on keeping Americans protected. The details of how to best do that can and should be debated, but changing the centerpiece from security to presidential power should give all Americans pause.

Starting at the top, Project 2025 recommends that Trump’s director of national intelligence fall directly under the president. “A conservative President must decide how to empower an individual to oversee and manage the Intelligence Community effectively,” the report states. “To be successful, the DNI and ODNI (Office of the Director of National Intelligence) must be able to lead the IC and implement the President’s intelligence priorities.”

The language in that paragraph is centered around the chief executive, which is not where loyalty should lie. The IC needs to act independently and maintain the wall of separation between the agencies and the presidency.

Project 2025 recommends the next conservative president appoint whomever he chooses as DNI with “agreement between the incoming DNI and President with advice and counsel from the Presidential Personnel Office on selecting positions overseen by the DNI.”

It also recommends the enhancement of the DNI’s role in overseeing execution of the National Intelligence Program budget under the President’s authority, with “under the President’s authority” being the operative words.

Under this plan, Trump would choose a deputy director who, “without needing Senate confirmation, can immediately begin to implement the President’s agenda.” This would include halting all current hiring to prevent the “burrowing in” of outgoing political personnel.

The Heritage Foundation, though Project 2025, has already been accepting resumes for inclusion in the Presidential Personnel Database. Candidates would be cleared under a Trump loyalty test before even being considered for positions in a presidential administration.

The report calls out three individuals by name; former CIA Director John Brennan, former DNI James Clapper, and Attorney General Merrick Garland, in the section titled “Preventing the Abuse of Intelligence for Partisan Purposes.”

“The IC must restore confidence in its political neutrality to rectify the damage done by the actions of former IC leaders and personnel regarding the claims of Trump-Russia collusion following the 2016 election and the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop investigation and media revelations of its existence during the 2020 election,” according to the report.

It accuses Brennan, who served under President Barack Obama, of having “gravely damaged the CIA by minimizing the Directorate of Operations and exploiting intelligence analysis as a political weapon after he left office.” Project 2025 cites Brennan's role in the letter signed by 51 former intelligence officials before the 2020 election “dismissing the Hunter Biden laptop as ‘Russian disinformation,’” claiming it discredited the CIA and revealing “the shocking extent of politicization among some former IC officials.”

Clapper also comes under scrutiny for his answering questions about government surveillance programs before Congress.

Project 2025 recommends that the Department of Justice “should use all of the tools at its disposal to investigate leaks and should rescind damaging guidance by Attorney General Merrick Garland that limits investigators’ ability to identify records of unauthorized disclosures of classified information to the media.”

There are several paragraphs giving the DNI the authority to drive necessary changes throughout the IC “to deal with the nation’s most compelling threats, including those emanating from China” but there is no mention of Russia, Iran or domestic terrorism.

There are sections with recommendations on changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act due to concerns about “the politicization of intelligence collection authority in recent years” as well as complaints on “overclassification,” with attempts to restrict classifying material.

This reads like an unveiled nod against the 40 felony counts brought against Trump, his personal aide and valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago maintenance chief Carlos De Oliveira, for alleged mishandling of classified documents after Trump’s presidency.

Project 2025’s chapter on the IC is all about giving the next conservative president more control over our intelligence communities as well as seeking revenge on those who aggrieved the former president. Instead of offering reassurances of safety and security, I for one came away feeling much more afraid.

More articles about Project 2025

    Latest news

    A globe resting on the very edge of a risen plank.
    Democracy

    What in the World Is Going On?

    Bernie Sanders Still Believes in the Democratic Party. Why?
    Democracy

    Bernie Sanders Still Believes in the Democratic Party. Why?

    Why Fed Independence Is a Cornerstone of Democracy—and Why It’s Under Threat
    Governance & Legislation

    Why Fed Independence Is a Cornerstone of Democracy—and Why It’s Under Threat

    An oil drilling platform with a fracking rig.
    Governance & Legislation

    Trump Says America’s Oil Industry Is Cleaner Than Other Countries’. New Data Shows Massive Emissions From Texas Wells.

    Read More

    Following Jefferson: Promoting Inter-Generational Understanding Through Constitution-Making
    Mount Rushmore
    Photo by John Bakator on Unsplash

    Following Jefferson: Promoting Inter-Generational Understanding Through Constitution-Making

    No one can denounce the New York Yankee fan for boasting that her favorite ballclub has won more World Series championships than any other. At 27 titles, the Bronx Bombers claim more than twice their closest competitor.

    No one can question admirers of the late, great Chick Corea, or the equally astonishing Alison Krauss, for their virtually unrivaled Grammy victories. At 27 gold statues, only Beyoncé and Quincy Jones have more in the popular categories.

    Keep ReadingShow less
    A close up of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement badge.

    Trump’s mass deportations promise security but deliver economic pain, family separation, and chaos. Here’s why this policy is failing America.

    Getty Images, Tennessee Witney

    The Cruel Arithmetic of Trump’s Immigration Crackdown

    As summer 2025 winds down, the Trump administration’s deportation machine is operating at full throttle—removing over one million people in six months and fulfilling a campaign promise to launch the “largest deportation operation in American history.” For supporters, this is a victory lap for law and order. For the rest of the lot, it’s a costly illusion—one that trades complexity for spectacle and security for chaos.

    Let’s dispense with the fantasy first. The administration insists that mass deportations will save billions, reduce crime, and protect American jobs. But like most political magic tricks, the numbers vanish under scrutiny. The Economic Policy Institute warns that this policy could destroy millions of jobs—not just for immigrants but for U.S.-born workers in sectors like construction, elder care, and child care. That’s not just a fiscal cliff—it is fewer teachers, fewer caregivers, and fewer homes built. It is inflation with a human face. In fact, child care alone could shrink by over 15%, leaving working parents stranded and employers scrambling.

    Meanwhile, the Peterson Institute projects a drop in GDP and employment, while the Penn Wharton School’s Budget Model estimates that deporting unauthorized workers over a decade would slash Social Security revenue and inflate deficits by nearly $900 billion. That’s not a typo. It’s a fiscal cliff dressed up as border security.

    And then there’s food. Deporting farmworkers doesn’t just leave fields fallow—it drives up prices. Analysts predict a 10% spike in food costs, compounding inflation and squeezing families already living paycheck to paycheck. In California, where immigrant renters are disproportionately affected, eviction rates are climbing. The Urban Institute warns that deportations are deepening the housing crisis by gutting the construction workforce. So much for protecting American livelihoods.

    But the real cost isn’t measured in dollars. It’s measured in broken families, empty classrooms, and quiet despair. The administration has deployed 10,000 armed service members to the border and ramped up “self-deportation” tactics—policies so harsh they force people to leave voluntarily. The result: Children skipping meals because their parents fear applying for food assistance; Cancer patients deported mid-treatment; and LGBTQ+ youth losing access to mental health care. The Human Rights Watch calls it a “crueler world for immigrants.” That’s putting it mildly.

    This isn’t targeted enforcement. It’s a dragnet. Green card holders, long-term residents, and asylum seekers are swept up alongside undocumented workers. Viral videos show ICE raids at schools, hospitals, and churches. Lawsuits are piling up. And the chilling effect is real: immigrant communities are retreating from public life, afraid to report crimes or seek help. That’s not safety. That’s silence. Legal scholars warn that the administration’s tactics—raids at schools, churches, and hospitals—may violate Fourth Amendment protections and due process norms.

    Even the administration’s security claims are shaky. Yes, border crossings are down—by about 60%, thanks to policies like “Remain in Mexico.” But deportation numbers haven’t met the promised scale. The Migration Policy Institute notes that monthly averages hover around 14,500, far below the millions touted. And the root causes of undocumented immigration—like visa overstays, which account for 60% of cases—remain untouched.

    Crime reduction? Also murky. FBI data shows declines in some areas, but experts attribute this more to economic trends than immigration enforcement. In fact, fear in immigrant communities may be making things worse. When people won’t talk to the police, crimes go unreported. That’s not justice. That’s dysfunction.

    Public opinion is catching up. In February, 59% of Americans supported mass deportations. By July, that number had cratered. Gallup reports a 25-point drop in favor of immigration cuts. The Pew Research Center finds that 75% of Democrats—and a growing number of independents—think the policy goes too far. Even Trump-friendly voices like Joe Rogan are balking, calling raids on “construction workers and gardeners” a betrayal of common sense.

    On social media, the backlash is swift. Users on X (formerly Twitter) call the policy “ineffective,” “manipulative,” and “theater.” And they’re not wrong. This isn’t about solving immigration. It’s about staging a show—one where fear plays the villain and facts are the understudy.

    The White House insists this is what voters wanted. But a narrow electoral win isn’t a blank check for policies that harm the economy and fray the social fabric. Alternatives exist: Targeted enforcement focused on violent offenders; visa reform to address overstays; and legal pathways to fill labor gaps. These aren’t radical ideas—they’re pragmatic ones. And they don’t require tearing families apart to work.

    Trump’s deportation blitz is a mirage. It promises safety but delivers instability. It claims to protect jobs but undermines the very sectors that keep the country running. It speaks the language of law and order but acts with the recklessness of a demolition crew. Alternatives exist—and they work. Cities that focus on community policing and legal pathways report higher public safety and stronger economies. Reform doesn’t require cruelty. It requires courage.

    Keep ReadingShow less
    Just the Facts: Impact of the Big Beautiful Bill on Health Care

    U.S. President Donald Trump takes the stage during a reception for Republican members of the House of Representatives in the East Room of the White House on July 22, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump thanked GOP lawmakers for passing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

    Getty Images, Chip Somodevilla

    Just the Facts: Impact of the Big Beautiful Bill on Health Care

    The Fulcrum strives to approach news stories with an open mind and skepticism, striving to present our readers with a broad spectrum of viewpoints through diligent research and critical thinking. As best we can, we remove personal bias from our reporting and seek a variety of perspectives in both our news gathering and selection of opinion pieces. However, before our readers can analyze varying viewpoints, they must have the facts.

    What are the new Medicaid work requirements, and are they more lenient or more restrictive than what previously existed?

    Keep ReadingShow less
    U.S. Constitution
    Imagining constitutions
    Douglas Sacha/Getty Images

    A Bold Civic Renaissance for America’s 250th

    Every September 17, Americans mark Constitution Day—the anniversary of the signing of our nation’s foundational charter in 1787. The day is often commemorated with classroom lessons and speaking events, but it is more than a ceremonial anniversary. It is an invitation to ask: What does it mean to live under a constitution that was designed as a charge for each generation to study, debate, and uphold its principles? This year, as we look toward the semiquincentennial of our nation in 2026, the question feels especially urgent.

    The decade between 1776 and 1787 was defined by a period of bold and intentional nation and national identity building. In that time, the United States declared independence, crafted its first national government, won a war to make their independence a reality, threw out the first government when it failed, and forged a new federal government to lead the nation. We stand at a similar inflection point. The coming decade, from the nation’s semiquincentennial in 2026 to the Constitution’s in 2037, offers a parallel opportunity to reimagine and reinvigorate our American civic culture. Amid the challenges we face today, there’s an opportunity to study, reflect, and prepare to write the next chapters in our American story—it is as much about the past 250 years, as it is about the next 250 years. It will require the same kind of audacious commitment to building for the future that was present at the nation’s outset.

    Keep ReadingShow less
    © Copyright 2025