Huffman Highlights Threats of Trump's Project 2025

September 19, 2024

Today, Founder of the Stop Project 2025 Task Force Jared Huffman joined House Assistant Minority Leader Joe Neguse and leaders from across the Democratic Caucus for a press conference focused on House Democrats’ resolution opposing Project 2025. The lawmakers were joined by DPCC Co-Chair Lauren Underwood, and Reps. Kathy Castor, Lizzie Fletcher, and Chris Deluzio. 

Find a full video of the press conference HERE, as well as highlights below. 

Task Force Chair Jared Huffman: “House Republicans, though, are not waiting for a second Trump presidency to get started on this agenda. Everywhere you turn in this Congress, extreme MAGA Republicans are working straight out of the pages of Project 2025. We're seeing it in Committees, at roundtables, every single day we see it on the House Floor. Climate action, protections for the middle class, social safety nets, and abortion rights have all been on the chopping block in this Republican majority, and it's like they have lifted their entire legislative agenda right out of the pages of Project 2025. So – sunlight, we know, is the best disinfectant. That's why our task force, along with the DPCC and many of our House Democratic colleagues, have been focused on doing something very simple but critically important, showing people what's actually in Project 2025, helping them just understand it, bringing it out of the shadows.” 

Assistant Leader Joe Neguse: “While Americans across the country look to leaders here in Washington, D.C. to solve problems – issues of critical importance facing our country, facing families across our land. Our colleagues, regrettably, across the aisle, are charging forward in lockstep with the agenda outlined in Project 2025 by former President Trump. For anyone who's looking for proof of that. Look no further than the actions of House Republicans over just the past few months and their attempts to provide huge new tax breaks to billionaires, their attacks on education and health care, environmental programs – as you'll hear from my colleagues – and of course, their efforts to strip Americans of fundamental freedoms. These actions, in my view, are grossly out of step with the needs and the wants of the American public. And so really, the question is, one for House Republicans. It's time for them to make a choice Project 2025 or the American people.” 

Co-Chair Lauren Underwood: “To put it simply, Donald Trump’s Project 2025 will make more Americans sick and without the coverage they need to take care of themselves. When people tell you who they are, when people tell you who they are, we must believe them. This document is not an abstract, rough draft collection of ideas. This document is a radical, detailed plan to seize power, to take over our government, and to completely change our way of life. It is 920 pages that outline exactly who Donald Trump is and where Republican priorities lie. It is dangerous for America. It is dangerous for our families, and it is dangerous for our communities.” 

Rep. Kathy Castor: “I'm here to talk about what is in this radical Project 2025 plan when it comes to our public health, climate, and clean energy. But let me start by saying I'm so proud to stand here with my colleagues who have been working day in and day out here in the Democratic caucus to to lower costs, to grow the middle class and build a safer, healthier America…My message: hold on to your wallet, Americans, because if Project 2025 is enacted, you're going to be paying more. And let's talk about that. What that means when it comes to our environment. Project 2025 contains these very, very outlandish, and expensive proposals, things that are going to raise costs and they're going to increase pollution. They want to make it easier to pollute in America. Now, I think Americans value clean air, clean water cleaner, cheaper energy.” 

Rep. Lizzie Fletcher: “[Project 2025] would criminalize abortion nationwide. Doesn't matter where you would live, where you live. It would criminalize abortion nationwide. It would block access to abortion pills and to medical equipment. It would restrict access to birth control. That's right. We're not talking about abortion. We're talking about birth control, contraception, whatever you call it. It would restrict access to birth control, and it would even ban fertility services that help families that are struggling, that are trying to get pregnant, like in vitro fertilization or IVF. It would even allow the government to monitor pregnancies and their outcomes. That really bears repeating. I know of no one who wants the government monitoring their pregnancies and their outcomes with the possibility, of course, of prosecuting women who have miscarriages, which is a very, very common and often devastating outcome of a pregnancy.” 

Rep. Chris Deluzio: “Project 2025 really puts at risk our country's ability to care for veterans. It proposes to slash care and benefits for disabled veterans. It looks to cut costs on the backs of future disability rating awards and adjust those standards for existing claims. It continues this trend of outsourcing and privatizing care, where we know our government pays more for worse outcomes relative to what my fellow veterans often receive at VA. It could lead to disenrolling millions of veterans who don't have a service connection designation for care they want to seek within the VA. That could really hurt a lot of veterans. That is one of the main components of what Project 2025 seeks to do around veterans’ care.” 

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