Trump’s game plan for 2nd term would make DOJ an 'attack dog for conservative causes': report

17 May 2024

With Project 2025, allies of presumptive 2024 GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump have outlined a comprehensive, detailed plan for a second Trump Administration. Their goal, according to reports, is to make sure federal government agencies — from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) — are staffed with Trump loyalists exclusively and are unwavering in their commitment to the MAGA movement.

In a report published by Reuters on May 17, journalists Gram Slattery, Sarah N. Lynch and Andrew Goudsward detail Trump and his allies' plans to give the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI a thorough makeover and offer Trump hands-on control over federal law enforcement if he defeats President Joe Biden in November.

The Reuters journalists explain, "Some of Donald Trump's allies are assembling proposals to curtail the Justice Department's independence and turn the nation's top law enforcement body into an attack dog for conservative causes, nine people involved in the effort told Reuters. If successful, the overhaul could represent one of the most consequential actions of a second Trump presidency given the Justice Department's role in protecting democratic institutions and upholding the rule of law."

Slattery, Lynch and Goudsward note that the DOJ lists "independence and impartiality" as key elements of its mission, and they stress that Trump's goals for federal law enforcement would be a "dramatic departure" from that outlook.

The journalists report, "The plan is essentially twofold, according to the nine people interviewed by Reuters, some of whom requested anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. First: flood the Justice Department with stalwart conservatives unlikely to say 'no' to controversial orders from the White House. Second: restructure the Department so key decisions are concentrated in the hands of administration loyalists rather than career bureaucrats."

This top-to-bottom DOJ makeover, according to Slattery, Lynch and Goudsward, would let a second Trump Administration "pursue conservative policy initiatives such as dismantling hiring programs meant to boost diversity in the workplace and ending federal oversight of police departments accused of racist practices."

Former federal prosecutor Kristy Parker, now with the group Protecting Democracy, points out that

Project 2025's goals, if implemented, would be a radical departure from DOJ traditions.

Parker told Reuters, "There are always enforcement disputes.... That is standard politics. What is not standard politics is somebody basically coming in and saying we are going to jettison the idea that the Department of Justice should have a wall of separation between it and the personal political agenda of the president."

Read Reuters' full report at this link.

From Your Site Articles