Just over a year ago, I published a blog entitled, “2024 – A Tipping Point for American Democracy.”  It described Project 2025, which I believe is a right-wing effort to establish an all-powerful presidency.  Sponsored by the ultra-conservative Heritage Foundation and funded by $22 million, Project 2025 brought 70 powerful conservative groups together in the Spring of 2023 to strategize how the next Republican president could achieve their objective – presumedly former president Donald Trump. 

The nearly 900-page proposal they produced, “Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise,” is to be implemented by thousands of conservative loyalists who could be vetted and trained by year-end 2024.  According to Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts, the objective is to dismantle the so-called “rogue administrative state.”  Critics, however, claim the goal is to establish a right-wing autocracy – and I agree.

Some of the more damaging Mandate proposals call for:

• Repealing President Biden’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, which are creating good-paying jobs nationwide,

• Dismantling the Department of Homeland Security, eliminating the Department of Education and reforming (politicizing) the Department of Justice,

• Outlawing all abortion methods and restricting the availability of contraception,

• Eliminating or politicizing the currently independent Federal Reserve,

• Reducing individual income tax to two brackets, 15% and 30%, and cutting the corporate income tax rate to 18%,

• Using a Schedule F executive order to replace thousands of nonpartisan civil service-protected employees with Trump-appointed loyalists who will obey him – or be fired.  

In addition, Project 2025 has drafted dozens of executive orders for Trump to sign on inauguration day.  Quickly appointed acting officials would then use them to immediately initiate an administrative blitzkrieg designed to overwhelm efforts to block their far-right agenda. 

Trump repudiated Project 2025 after it sparked public outcry, but I am confident he will quickly begin executing a very similar plan on inauguration day if he is elected.  Why?  Well, Trump’s transition team will be headed by Howard Lutnick and Linda McMahon, who is the chairperson of the deeply conservative America First Policy Institute (AFPI).  This organization has a plan very similar to the Mandate entitled, “America First Transition Project: Ready on day one,”  which hundreds of former senior GOP officials have been working on since 2022. 

Regardless, Trump has eschewed the formal transition process dictated by the Presidential Transition Act.  It should have started months ago to coordinate with the current administration and ensure that agencies operate smoothly during a turnover.  Still, Trump’s representatives have had little communication with the Biden administration, except for one September meeting at the White House, and they have refused national security briefings, according to an October 9 New York Times article.  This is troubling.

But here is what really concerns me:  Trump was not threated by jail time and loss of his business empire when he illegally attempted to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results.  Then, he sent a violent mob to attack the Capitol on January 6, 2021.  This year, however, is very different.  If he loses this election, he is facing imprisonment and financial ruin in 2025.  So, I am very worried about what he might do, both illegal and seditious, to ensure he becomes president next year.  And, Republicans at all levels of government will likely support him, including numerous state election officials.

Many of them probably want Trump reelected for life, and I believe most House Republicans will obey any command Trump gives them, even if it is illegal.  Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) – who some call “MAGA Mike” – is a Trump acolyte and 2020 election denier, so he may not try to stop them.  Nor will the few remaining reasonable Republicans and less MAGA GOP politicians in Congress; they fear Trump supporters will end their political careers and/or harm their families – and here is why.

Trump continuously incites violence and threatens opponents.  His lies about 2020 election fraud caused ongoing death threats against election officials from both parties.  After he lied about the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s response to hurricanes Helene and Milton, his supporters interrupted relief efforts and threated agency personnel.  And Trump has repeatedly called Democrats, like former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Adam Shiff, the “enemy from within,” which puts a target on their back. 

Just imagine what he and his supporters might do during and after the 2024 election – or if he wins.   

I sincerely hope I am wrong.  But the period from election day until the winner is inaugurated – and perhaps for months thereafter – has the potential to be the most chaotic America has experienced during the past 100 years.  It could involve protracted court battles, wild stock market fluctuations and even wide-spread violence.  And, in the end, Republicans in Congress or the Supreme Court may decide who wins.  As my July blog advised, Work for the Best; Plan for the Worst.

Do not assume, however, that GOP threats to democracy are temporary and that traditional Republicans will take over the party if Trump loses.  Its radical right-wing is firmly in control, and I believe the supporters of Project 2025 are committed to establishing a Republican autocracy, even if Trump is defeated.  But if Trump wins – well, preserving American democracy will take a monumental effort.

Borrowing some phrasing from the former president’s insurrection inciting speech on January 6, 2021 – if democracy-loving Americans don’t fight like hell to defeat Trump and these tyrants, we won’t have a country anymore.