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The leader of right-wing think tank The Heritage Foundation says the Supreme Court presidential immunity ruling could bolster a second American revolution, as defined by his group's Project 2025 plan.
Appearing on Steve Bannon's War Room podcast, foundation president Kevin Roberts outlined how the ruling might help transform the federal government with conservative policy proposals, should Donald Trump win the White House in November and adopt Project 2025.
He said the Supreme Court's judgment on Monday, that presidents are immune from prosecution for "official acts, will free them up to introduce policy without having to "triple guess, every decision they're making in their official capacity."
"In spite of all this nonsense from the left, we are going to win. We're in the process of taking this country back," Roberts said. "We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless, if the left allows it to be."
Roberts' Project 2025 vision of a bloodless revolution includes an action plan to dismantle what he has described as "the deep state," by removing civil service employment protections for all federal employees with "policy-determining, policymaking, or policy-advocating" in their job titles.
Removing the employment protections, which have been in place for 135 years, would make the civil servants at all levels of the federal government easier to fire and replace with Republican loyalists.
After replacing the civil service, the Project then proposes the implementation of several more right-wing policies.
These include eliminating the Department of Education, reducing the scope of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, rolling back renewable-energy programs to create a regulatory environment that favors the fossil fuel industry, limiting mail-order abortion pills, and removing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) hiring policies from federal programs.
Most importantly, in relation to the Supreme Court ruling, Project 2025 wants to consolidate executive power by reducing the independence of federal agencies and increasing presidential control over policy implementation.
The proposals have been widely criticized. Professor Erwin Chemerinsky—an expert in constitutional law and dean of UC Berkley Law School—told Newsweek that Project 2025 was "inconsistent with the structure and goals of the Constitution," which he said was based on checks and balances as well as the separation of powers.
Roberts appeared on the War Room podcast on Tuesday, during its first broadcast without host Steve Bannon, who on Monday reported to federal prison in Connecticut to serve a four-month sentence for defying a congressional subpoena.
Bannon is a staunch advocate for Project 2025, having previously said that he envisions the Make America Great Again movement "will govern the United States for 50 years."
In the episode, hosted by former congressman Chris Brat, Roberts said listeners ought to be encouraged by Monday's Supreme Court ruling.
"We're in the process of taking this country back," he said. "No one in the audience should be despairing."
Roberts referred listeners to Alexander Hamilton's 1788 essay Federalist No. 70, which speaks of the need for a "vigorous executive."
"Put politics off to the side, any president having to second guess, triple guess, every decision they're making in their official capacity—you couldn't have the republic that you just described," he said.
The War Room podcast broadcasts four hours per day, five days per week, on right-wing cable channel Real America's voice.
A 2023 study which analyzed unsubstantiated and false claims in major political podcasts found War Room to be one of the top spreaders of misinformation, particularly in repeating the lie that widespread voter fraud caused Joe Biden to win the 2020 election, a claim which has been dismissed as baseless by a variety of judges, by the cybersecurity arm of the Homeland Security Department and by Trump's own Attorney General William Barr.
Roberts has been contacted via email for further comment.
Update 07/03/2024 10:01 a.m. ET: This story has been updated to include comments from Professor Erwin Chemerinsky.
About the writer
Flynn Nicholls is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on U.S. politics and society. Originally ... Read more