Topline

While Democrats have dismissed the right-wing policy agenda Project 2025 for devising extreme policies for a second Trump presidency, reports indicate that the America First Policy Institute could actually influence a second term for former President Donald Trump, as the right-wing policy group appears to be. Providing Trump with both policy suggestions and financial aid.

Key facts

Will America be the first to raise money for Trump?

Possibly. Federal Election Commission filings show that a political action committee called “America First Action Fund” was registered on October 22. The PAC appears to be affiliated with the policy institute, with Ashley Hayek, the nonprofit’s chief engagement officer, serving as its custodian of records, but the America First Policy Institute has not yet responded to a request for comment on its affiliation. Although America First’s policy arm is a nonprofit organization that cannot support political candidates and their campaigns, the super PAC could spend money to directly help Trump, although in most cases it would still not be able to directly coordinate with his campaign. The PAC’s formation so late in the election cycle also means it doesn’t have to reveal any of its donors until after Election Day.

What is in America First’s policy agenda?

America First’s policy blueprint lays out a number of priorities that are consistent with the policy visions Trump and his allies have pushed, including imposing tariffs on imported goods, lowering corporate tax rates, protecting “religious freedom,” increasing domestic oil and gas production, eliminating climate change efforts, opposing policies supporting transgender rights, opposing gun control measures, imposing work requirements on Medicaid recipients, curbing immigration, and reducing America’s role in aiding international conflicts. The agenda does not call for a complete ban on abortion at the federal level, but it does call for defunding Planned Parenthood. It also does not adopt Trump’s proposal for mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, but does call for completing the U.S.-Mexico border wall, increasing funding for border agents and ending legal immigration programs such as family immigration pathways and the visa lottery.

How is America First different from Project 2025?

America First’s agenda is generally less extreme than Project 2025, which proposes a drastic overhaul of the executive branch that would include the complete elimination of several federal agencies, such as the Departments of Education and Homeland Security. That said, both agendas are largely aligned with their values, pursuing conservative principles and emphasizing the federal government prioritizing “nuclear families” and policies that will encourage two-parent families. They also both suggest that Trump should broadly overhaul the federal workforce if elected, replacing career civil servants with political appointees, with America First advocating that all government employees should be able to be fired “at will” — making it easier for Trump to get rid of their office. of anyone who takes steps he doesn’t like – and only political appointees should be able to make rules.

What we don’t know

Who funds the work of America First? As a 501(c)3 nonprofit, America First is not required to publicly disclose its donors, and federal tax filings suggest that much of the group’s money is routed through “dark money” groups, which are otherwise unclear determine where a donation comes from. . Among the groups whose tax returns show they give money to America First is a foundation linked to billionaire Timothy Dunn. The Times reports that Dunn helped form the policy group in the wake of the 2020 election and still serves on the organization’s board.

Tangent

America First Action Fund is one of many “pop-up PACs” formed at the last minute before Election Day. No political donations made after October 16 are publicly reported to the FEC before Election Day, meaning super PACs can register and raise money after October 16 knowing their information won’t come out until after the election. In addition to the America First PAC, another group called “RBG PAC” registered with the FEC in recent days and is now spending $20 million defending Trump’s record on abortion, the Times reports. The PAC is invoking the late Chief Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as part of its ads, which her family has denounced, calling granddaughter Clara Spera the PAC’s use of the justice’s name “terrible” and an “insult to the legacy of my deceased grandmother’.

Important background

The news of America First’s involvement in Trump’s transition effort comes as Democrats have made Project 2025 one of the party’s main arguments against a second Trump presidency, rejecting the extreme proposals in recent months, as the elections are approaching are emphasized. Trump has spoken out against Project 2025 – despite his alleged ties to the Heritage Foundation – and has tried to distance himself from the operation as it has come under widespread criticism, with his campaign reportedly planning to target those involved worked to blacklist them so they can’t join a second Trump administration. The Times reports that America First has deliberately kept its activities quiet amid Trump’s resentment of Project 2025, operating largely in secret as Project 2025 made national headlines. The policy group’s work to prepare for a second Trump presidency comes amid reports that Trump’s formal transition team is behind on its own preparations and has not yet signed agreements with the federal government that would allow the administration to share information and increase access to the transition. of government resources. Those agreements also require transition teams to follow ethics rules and disclose their donors, which has led Democrats to speculate that Trump won’t sign the agreements yet to avoid those requirements.

Read more

Project 2025 explained: What to know about the right-wing policy map ahead of tonight’s VP debate (Forbes)

Meet the think tank planning a second Trump administration. (It’s not Project 2025.) (Politico)

The group at the center of Trump’s planning for a second term is one you’ve never heard of (The New York Times)

A look inside Trump World’s preparations for a second term (Wall Street Journal)