Urge California's Elected Officials to Denounce Project 2025
Project 2025 is a 900-page gameplan for our country's future leadership to dismantle critical programs and prioritize ideological extremism.
Project 2025 was drafted by the Heritage Foundation with input from representatives of over 100 organizations. Its intent is to reverse the progress of expanded civil rights protections, reduce wages, undermine worker protections, and destroy social and health benefits by the systematic elimination of essential government agencies, implementation of new laws, and the appointment of individuals whose qualifications are related to their party affiliation and not their policy expertise.
In short, it would restrict liberty while professing to champion liberty. Learn more here.
⭐ About this Petition
This petition is for a firm, public, and unified rebuke of Project 2025 by all of California's elected officials. Our goal is to send this to every:
🔹school board member, 🔹city councilmember, 🔹county supervisor,🔹member of our State Legislature, 🔹California members of Congress, and🔹Governor Gavin Newsom.
This isn't about political party or one politician versus another. It's not about Christianity or Humanism. It's about the preservation of our democracy and a return to checks and balances. We believe that, regardless of party or faith, residents throughout California will join us in supporting this petition and sharing it with others.
⭐ More About Project 2025
"Project 2025 is among the most profound threats to the American people." according to Democracy Forward.
The plan outlines exactly how the next presidency can take immediate action to do the following:
Healthcare:
Reduce health benefits granted to veterans (p. 649)
Undo recent Medicare prescription prices (p. 465)
Criminalize mailing medicated abortion (p. 562)
Labor:
Remove overtime protections through the Dept. of Labor (p. 492)
Remove safety nets for farm workers (p. 297)
Eliminate public transportation funding (p. 635)
Children, Students, and Families:
Weaken child labor protections (p. 595)
Impose work requirements on food assistance programs (p. 299)
Eliminate Head Start (p. 482)
Cut a number of federal student loan programs (p. 167)
Completely eliminate federal student loans in 25 states, including California (p. 354)
Remove LGBTQ+ protections in public schools, charter schools, and foster care (p. 333, 477, 332)
Climate Change:
Weaken climate change oversight (p. 425)
Expand offshore oil and natural gas drilling (p. 523)
The document doesn't just declare they want to do these things, but spells out a precise, efficient path to do it.
Further, Project 2025 calls for the elimination or defunding of the following agencies, departments, and more:
The Gender Policy Council (p. 62)
The EPA's Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights
NOAA (collects climate change data)
An important goal of Project 2025 is to replace career civil servants with partisan loyalists (p. 80) by reclassifying their positions as political posts. They have already established a Presidential Personnel Database to facilitate this. The application evaluates candidates through ideologically biased questions, a practice that was abolished in the Carter administration.
Organizations including ALEC, California Family Council, Family Research Council, the Heritage Foundation, Liberty University, Moms for Liberty, Pro-Life America, Turning Point USA, and over 100 others are listed as advisors for Project 2025.
Don't take our word for it. View the official website, their handbook for the first 180 days, or read their 900-page "Mandate for Leadership".
⭐ A Note on Christian Nationalism
Several contributors to Project 2025 (Russell Vought, William Wolfe, Brad Onishi, Charlie Kirk, Michael Flynn, and others) have included aspects of Christian Nationalism into their plans.
The document suggests new protections and advantages to faith-based organizations (p. 268, 481), even suggesting that FBOs are given priority in government contracts over private contractors. It aims to give even more discrimination exemptions to religious schools and colleges.
Project 2025 directs the Department of Health and Human Services to "protect faith-based grant recipients from religious liberty violations and maintain a biblically based, social science–reinforced definition of marriage and family." (p. 481).
It directs the Department of Labor to "provide robust protections for religious employers" who should be "free to run their businesses according to their religious beliefs" and that employers may "make employment decisions based on religion regardless of nondiscrimination laws". (p. 586)
These proposed changes to our freedom not only affect the LGBTQ+ community but atheists, the non-religious, or frankly anyone who is not a mainstream Christian.
⭐ About Us
This petition was started on Independence Day (July 4, 2024) by California Freethought Day, a non-profit organization that holds an event every October at the State Capitol.
Our theme for October 6, 2024, is "Democracy, Not Theocracy: Uniting Against Religious Bigotry". Our outdoor event features engaging speakers, live entertainment, scholarship and community award winners, community groups, and more. It's free to attend, supported by donations and sponsorships.
⭐ Support
You can support our mission here.