I continue blogging through the Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025,” which I will call for short, P2025. To start, I want to acknowledge two things.
1) While the online version of the document that I am using is a whopping 920 pages, that number turns out to be a bit misleading. The first 32 pages are easily skippable, with reference information that one can turn to as needed. And, in between sections, like Kevin Robert’s “Foreword” and the first main section, there are blank pages, albeit they are missing the customary “This page left intentionally blank” memo. Even so, the document remains plenty long and one wonders whether the volume is intended to be thorough or just too intimidating to offer a reasonable read.
2) I have some reservations over whether what I am doing is even worth the effort. Keenan Thompson’s hilarious send up of “Project 2025” during the third night of the Democratic National Convention may be a better approach than my effort – which one person dubbed my “perverse devotional.” When I wrote my book, Left Behind and Loving It, I chose to use humor as my primary tone very deliberately. While I think humor is often ill-intended and hurtful, I also think it is a powerful tool for deflating hubris. I think those writers who have made a mint off stoking fear over the imminent rapture and those who are trying to enforce their small view of the world through governmental change in this document are prime examples of hubris and need to be deflated. We often hear someone say, “I’m not going to dignify that remark.” As I blog my way through P2025, I may eventually reach that same conclusion. Does something, so filled with vitriolic and demeaning language, really deserve a measured and thoughtful response? Or should we just let the comic genius simply display it for what it is? I revisit that question every week.
The first major section of P2025 is entitled, “Taking the Reins of Government.” It has an anonymous three-page preface, which seems to have been written by Roberts. If nothing else, it continues the kind of “us v. them” language of Robert’s Foreword. And the preface makes it clear that what follows will be an argument that civil servants have the role of serving the agenda of the President. The presbyterian in me is on high alert here.
The first chapter of this section is entitled, “White House Office,” by Rick Dearborn, former Deputy Chief of Staff for President Trump and Executive Director of the 2016 President-elect Trump’s transition team. As such, Dearborn offers a description of civil servants that differs from the preface. Whereas the preface says, “Federal employees are often ideologically aligned—not with the majority of the American people—but with one another, posing a profound problem for republican government, a government ‘of, by, and for’ the people; Dearborn describes those who work in the White House Office hold approach their work as their “shared patriotic endeavor,” hold jobs that are “among the most demanding in all of government.” Relying on his position within the White House, Dearborn describes the work of the Chief of Staff, as well as all the other deputies and department leaders within the chain of command. For example, Dearborn describes the role of the White House Counsel in part this way:
"While the White House Counsel does not serve as the President’s personal attorney in nonofficial matters, it is almost impossible to delineate exactly where an issue is strictly personal and has no bearing on the President’s official function. The White House Counsel needs to be deeply committed both to the President’s agenda and to affording the President proactive counsel and zealous representation. That individual directly advises the President as he performs the duties of the office, and this requires a relationship that is built on trust, confidentiality, and candor." (p.27)
I appreciate the distinction of the WH Counsel’s role from the president’s personal attorney, as well as the gray areas that may arise with that distinction. He does include an important parenthetical phrase that the President’s agenda must be “within the bounds of the law,” a sentiment that shows up often.
But there seems to be something else afoot here. On p.28, Dearborn says,
"When a new President takes office, he will need to decide expeditiously how to handle any major ongoing litigation or other pending legal matters that might present a challenge to his agenda. To offer guidance, the White House Counsel must get up to speed as quickly as possible on all significant ongoing legal challenges across the executive branch that might affect the new Administration’s policy agenda and must be prepared at the outset of the Administration to present recommendations to the President, including recommendations for reconsidering or reversing positions of the previous Administration in any significant litigation. This review will usually require consulting with the new political leadership at the Justice Department, including during the transition period."
Okay, is it just me or is this a clear signal that a first priority of a future Trump administration would be to put the kibosh on all of the pending lawsuits and verdicts that he is facing? Whether it is on account of actions taken to deny the 2020 election results or personal actions involving porn stars, this argument offers rationale and urgency to bringing the White House Counsel and the Department of Justice to heel, in the name of ensuring that the president’s agenda is not disrupted. Apparently, the courts and civil servants cannot be trusted to do their job. Dearborn concludes his description of the Counsel’s job with this on p.28: “… while a candidate with elite credentials might seem ideal, the best one will be above all loyal to the President and the Constitution.” The problem arises when the choice is between loyalty to the President or to the Constitution.
More to come.
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