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By Aliss Higham
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Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for government, has gained significant traction in recent weeks as the 2024 presidential election looms ever closer. A primer on what could be in the event that Donald Trump secures the White House in November, its 920 pages touch on all manner of policies covering a range of government functions and services.
But is Social Security in the Project 2025 Mandate for Leadership, and what would any proposed changes mean for the American people?
What Is Project 2025?
The project is overseen by the conservative Heritage Foundation. In its own words, it serves as a policy "guide" and "playbook" of recommended actions to be taken within a conservative government's first 180 days in office.
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According to its own introduction, Project 2025 is "collective effort of hundreds of volunteers who have banded together in the spirit of advancing positive change for America."
Its critics severely disagree. President Joe Biden's campaign team have said the project would "give Trump more power over your daily life, gut democratic checks and balances, and consolidate power in the Oval Office."
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The Center for American Progress has said if enacted, Project 2025 would "concentrate power in the hands of the president—and set in motion a plan to flood the civil service with far-right loyalists to seize control of independent agencies." Democracy Forward said it is "among the most profound threats to the American people."
Trump has sought to distance himself from Project 2025, claiming that he has "no idea who is behind it," according to CNN, which also found that some 140 people who have worked for the former president have been involved in its creation, including six former cabinet secretaries.
"I have no idea who is behind it. I disagree with some of the things they're saying and some of the things they're saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal. Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them," Trump said last week. Newsweek has contacted Trump for comment via the contact form on his website.
The movement itself has denied its affiliation with Trump. "We are not affiliated with former President Trump," it posted on X, formerly Twitter, this week. "We are a coalition of more than 110 conservative groups advocating policy and personnel recommendations."
What Could Project 2025 Do to Social Security?
Despite being over 900 pages long and spanning most of the departments of government, including defense, homeland security, agriculture, education and energy, the mandate text does not provide direct policy positions on Social Security or its government agency.
"Mandate for Leadership does not advocate cutting Social Security," Project 2025 posted via X on July 9.
However, The Heritage Foundation has advocated for raising the retirement age.
In a June blog post, Rachel Greszler, senior research fellow at the Roe Institute, said that the normal eligibility age for collecting Social Security retirement benefits should be raised to 70 to help address the impending funding cliff faced by the Social Security Administration (SSA).
"To restore Social Security's intent, policymakers should gradually increase the normal retirement age from 67 to 69 or 70—moving the age up by one or two months per year—and index it to life expectancy," Greszler suggested in the blog post.
"The Heritage Foundation, which has played a central role in organizing the planned extremist takeover of the federal government known as Project 2025 for the next Republican president, is now calling for the Social Security retirement age to be raised to 70," said Zachary Pleat, senior researcher at Media Matters.
Separately, in March this year, the Republican Study Committee, the largest group of conservatives in the House, proposed raising the retirement age.
What Is Trump's Position on Social Security?
The last time Trump—in writing—updated his Social Security stance was in January 2023. As part of his Agenda47 campaign, the former president said that "under no circumstances should Republicans vote to cut a single penny from Medicare or Social Security."
"DO NOT CUT the benefits our seniors worked for and paid for their entire lives. Save Social Security," Trump said.
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