Larry Hogan, the Republican U.S. Senate candidate, has publicly criticized Project 2025, labeling it as "absurd and dangerous.".
This proposed presidential transition project, which is being led by two former officials from Donald Trump's administration and spearheaded by The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, has stirred controversy due to its focus on reducing federal regulations, reforming government agencies, and promoting conservative values across various sectors.
According to Newsweek, Project 2025, which also includes an advisory board comprising several familiar names from the Trump administration, aims to implement significant changes by 2025, should Trump, the Republican nominee, be reelected. The project's nearly 1,000-page handbook outlines numerous proposed actions on immigration, including allowing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to carry out "civil arrest, detention, and removal of immigration violators anywhere in the United States, without warrant where appropriate."
However, Trump, in a post on Truth Social, stated, "I know nothing about Project 2025. I have not seen it, have no idea who is in charge of it, and, unlike our very well received Republican Platform, had nothing to do with it."
Hogan, a moderate former governor of Maryland, expressed his disapproval of these "absurd and dangerous" policies in an op-ed, stating that they must be rejected. He specifically mentioned the proposed disbanding of the Education Department, the potential abolition of the Federal Reserve, and the withdrawal of the abortion medication mifepristone from the market.
Hogan argued that Project 2025's radical approach is out of touch with the American people, who desire common-sense solutions to address the cost of living, make communities safer, and secure the border while fixing the broken immigration system. He criticized the project for opting for total war against the other side, making it impossible to find common ground.
Blake Kernen, Hogan's campaign spokesperson, affirmed Hogan's stance, stating, "Governor Hogan has never been afraid to speak out and call it exactly like he sees it. In the Senate, he will be the same independent leader Marylanders know and trust. He will stand up to extremism and defend the core American values that Project 2025 targets."
Hogan, who is running against Democrat Angela Alsobrooks in the state's U.S. Senate race, took particular issue with Project 2025's plans for a comprehensive overhaul of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the federal bureaucracy. He expressed concern over the curtailing of the FBI's program against misinformation, the reinstatement of former service members who lost their jobs after refusing the COVID-19 vaccine, and the abolition of what is described as the "woke agenda" within the Pentagon.
Hogan, whose father was an FBI agent, wrote, "My father was an FBI agent who believed deeply that this work should not be infected by politics. It was that approach that gave him credibility when he became the first Republican in Congress to come out in favor of the impeachment of President Richard M. Nixon. It's true that the ideal of impartial justice that my father embodied has not always been realized. But that does not mean it should be abandoned by choice and design."
He also labeled the conservative blueprint as a "threat to our way of life" as Americans. Hogan, noting that approximately 150,000 federal workers live in Maryland, voiced concern over Project 2025's plan to remake the federal bureaucracy. The plan includes the reclassification of tens of thousands of federal employees under a proposed "Schedule F" to facilitate easier firing and hiring of personnel aligned with conservative values.
"The goal is to remove nonpartisan civil servants, most of whom patriotically do their jobs without fanfare or political agendas, and replace them with loyalists to the president," Hogan wrote.
Jeffrey H. Anderson, president of American Main Street Initiative, who helped author the Project 2025 proposals, defended the project in an op-ed, stating, "These claims have things completely backwards. Project 2025's proposals would reinforce our system of government, not depart from it. They would strengthen our checks and balances, not weaken them."
In June, Hogan received an unexpected endorsement from Trump, who said, "I'd like to see him win. I think he has a good chance to win. I would like to see him win. And we've got to take the majority." However, Hogan has distanced himself from this endorsement, stating, "Well I just said I didn't seek it, I didn't want to have it and I have no interest in it. It's not something we're going to be promoting that's for sure in a state Donald Trump lost by 33 points. It doesn't really carry a lot of voters over to our cause so I don't think we're going to have any interest in accepting it."
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