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summit. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> real clear politics serves as a white house reporter here to talk about project 2025 which we learned a lot about an heard a lot about during the campaign but does it have a presence today? >> that's the million-dollar question. because heritage put together this project and they been doing this since the reagan administration. what was different is they invited the entire concert with constellation to get underneath their banner and prepare policy

and personnel list for the incoming republican administration. no one cared about project 2025 when a first party and i tell you two years ago it wasn't that interesting until that 900 page policy document got out. democrats were taking a closer look and with good reason in pointing out a lot of these policies have been written by trump alumni. you and president biden and vice president harris making the argument this is the playbook for trump. it basically gave democrats a lot of examples to hit donald trump had with. >> host: what's the official stance of the cup and menstruation? >> guest: we for this a dozen times, both from president-elect trump and vice president-elect vance, which is no one speaks for the campaign except for us. that's the argument they made repeatedly. there are some examples of cross-fertilization. you have alumni, folks like tom

holman, peter navarro writing this project and also the expectation is just like in previous administrations trump would pick from some of these heritage staff list. that was a controversy. we can report for the first time that when trump and his campaign were basically heralding the demise of project went with five come behind the scenes the former president was on the phone with kevin roberts the president of the heritage foundation encouraging them to turn down the volume until after the election. >> host: what was appointed that? >> guest: look, basically when herr says can you believe it but all this in writing? it's 900 pages of basically conservative orthodoxy. some of these things conservatives were prescribed like policy and department of education a little pie-in-the-sky but something they wanted for for a long . the issue was particularly came to abortion policy heritage,

like all think tanks do, they were describing their ideal and when the ideal was farther to the right of what the trump campaign was describing that created confusion among reporters and the public and gave democrats an opportunity to go on the deck. >> host: that was some elements of this i want a walk-through called a mandate for leadership. what was at? >> guest: mandate for leadership is blueprint for how they want any administration to govern. and he can heritage has been doing this since the reagan administration. republicans often relied some other policy proposals in the way any think tank put together white paper and hopes are ao put some thought into law. i can the difference this time is it was much more expensive. what herridge was trying to do, threes whitest of this effort years ago in 2022 is they were solving for the problem of the first trump administration, which is trump gets to town, he doesn't expect to win and he is

shellshocked becky doesn't know which policy to nesser pursue. he has a general direction certainly but he does know who to rely on. in 2016-2017 the former president realized a lot of rank-and-file republicans and he begins with general republican marching orders. he feels he's wasted opportunity and conservatives feel that. with project 2025 what these guys are trying to set the game plan ready to go on day one. >> host: if you want to ask questions, project 25, 202-748-8000 democrats. 202-748-8001 for republicans and independents 202-748-8002. you can text as at 202-748-8003 frickin' of all that was what her described a linkte in of sos for people working for the administration. >> guest: this is why we are

focused on this. because yes, you can prescribe policy but personal is a significant thing. we all know this. there was concern after the back-and-forth between heritage and the trump campaign that heritage and project 2025 e going to get locked out, blacklisted. how would let nick the cochair of the trump transition to focus on personnel told me if you've anything to with o project 2025 you a radioactive. i'm almost coding himu when he said there's no lock and gnocchi for project 2025 into the trump administration. his eye was if you send me a resume that is project 2025 on it, that's going out the window. what we have seen though is this administration has cut for 5000 spots to fill. these are not just cabinet positions. these are lower-level bureaucratic positions that will be filled before there's a

confirmation at the head of the agency. transitions, frenetic, difficult things to do and what we've been able to report is while they're still bitterness from the campaign, the trump campaign was frustrated heritage didn't turn down the volume sooner. it seems a lot of the trump alumni, heritage alumni and also folks who were involved in project 2025 they've not been given the cold shoulder today. in fact, some folks are already making news. tom holman for instance, was heritage fellow. we just heard this week he's going to be president trump's borders are, what's the history of the heritage foundation when having people placed in administration maybe not the income one but previous treasury basic personnel ass policy. their hope and this is not distinct to them but their hope is to get the right people in position they can move any administration in more as a conservative direction. don't just a think about roles t the white house but think about

mid-level roles the environmental protection agency or the office of management and budget. they have found the wonks and a kid to understand lovee this policy will do for this sort of stuff. and you are prepared to reshape the government. next 100 days or so will be laser focused on doing everything they can to make certain that their people with a helpful symbiosis. trump is haunted by the apathetic republicans who didn't share his vision when he was in office the first time. with the heritage foundation, these are true believers. host: you said they had a conversation to turn down the heat. going further on that, what about embracing certain people?

guest: there are others. i would keep an ion russ vote, who's no longer there with the center for american renewal. i would be looking at peter navarro, an author for project 2025. you can go through the project 2000 25 index. this is why the herod -- the harris campaign was taking a closer look. a lot of these guys are alumni. the past is a guide here. trump loves heritage. in his first term he spoke at their gala. they were giving him a lot of policy ammunition for what he wanted to get done. host: philip wegmann is joining us from real clear politics. let's start with sam, independent line, you are on with our guest. go ahead. caller: a lot of people don't

understand what project 2020 five is in the democrats are using this against donald trump. the other thing i wanted to say is we have a lot of programs on tv right now doing nothing but teaching hate, we need to unify the country and get together and do the best thing for our children and grandchildren and the future. we have these shows on tv like jimmy kimmel live, the view, all these other shows, they just teach eight against trump. we need to unite together and start doing what's best for our country. host: a lot of people don't understand project 2025, his first part. guest: i thought that his comment there was interesting. what we saw over the summer was that project 2025, this white paper suddenly in the cultural zeitgeist. i don't know if jimmy kimmel

live specifically made a joke about it, but plenty did in late night, on places like "the view," it was in the mainstream and everyone was arguing about it. it's not unusual for think tanks to do this sort of thing. you could understand that the harris campaign's argument here in the reason they might have wanted to make it an issue, it was kind of confusing. it wasn't just 900 pages of policy prescriptions. there was this linkedin style of personnel database. these things taken together could have an oversized influence. this is a bit of a mixed blessing think tank wonks everywhere. this idea that they are getting attention, it's controversial as well. host: leonard, new york, independent line.

caller: can you hear me? host: go ahead. caller: i wanted to ask about the viewpoint of project 2025 and of the department of education, the changes and overhauls they are thinking about doing. what about those who want to do like a secondary education? thank you. caller: it's a nine hut -- guest: it's a 900 page document, it's a lot to cover. in terms of project 2000 25, they want massive changes to the department of education. the prescription has been to abolish it. what we have seen from republicans and conservatives is that they are not fans of the biden administration forgiveness for student loans. i would expect additional forgiveness to end. host: after people voted and you look at exit polling at the end of the day, how did it look in

terms of how people decided that how people decided they would vote for president? guest: it was an argument tailor-made for someone in the harris camp. someone who would not be persuaded by new conservative ideas. project 2025 played really well over the summer. i'm thinking back to the democratic convention in chicago, kenan thompson walking on stage, the joke was that it was good for remaking the federal government and hurting small animals, right? it got a lot of laughs. why? the democratic faithful are already predisposed to dislike this sort of thing. if you are plugged into politics, you probably already know about the heritage foundation. if you are a swing voter in

don't have the luxury of reading the new york times in the morning and cross-referencing it with the wall street journal, if you are a normal human being, project 2025 other than it floating around in the zeitgeist, it may not have landed with you. host: john, hello there. caller: project 2025 reminds me of the line from the great gatsby, they break things up, hide their money, and let others clean up the mess. the department of education, pennsylvania, tom corbett, the governor, took 1.5 billion dollars from the department of education. he was only a one term, thank god for that. by the way, trump spent one fourth of his term on the golf course in the last election. i hope that the people remember that. sometimes when he talks, it sounds like he has the third stage of syphilis.

host: we are going on to gilbert, then. ohio, independent line, you are next up. caller: good morning. first of all, i would like two questions answered. six days ago i heard the speaker of the house state that he is going to get rid of social security. i would like to know the date of that, if you happen to know. first, the speaker said six days ago that he is going to get rid of health care in the first year. the last question i want to ask, do you believe that the upcoming president, trump, is going to give up his office after four years? that is what i would like to know. host: gilbert, ohio. guest: in terms of social security, republicans have not had a very good track record of reforming that entitlement.

they have tried before and failed. i'm not a capitol hill repoll dirt -- reporter, but i don't think that he has plans to tackle social security. there have been discussions about returning to obamacare and, you know, republicans taking a closer look at that. we all know that they spent a lot of their political capital in their first four years trying to repeal and replace obamacare and they did not succeed. to the last question about whether or not donald trump will leave office, well, he's going to have to, right? there is no second term, he is constitutionally limited. i will say that while the fabric of the nation was tested on january 6, there is no scenario where coequal branches of the legislature, the judiciary, were going to let him stay longer. i think that this time around,

the way that they are operating currently, they are trying to make the most of these next four years, it's why the transition is moving quickly, hitting the ground running. he knows it is his last dance. host: the president will meet with the president-elect tomorrow at the white house. talk about that meeting. its role in the transition process. guest: wouldn't you like to be a fly on the wall of that room? i imagine the press will be able to come in at some point to shout if you questions at the president and president-elect. this is a historic moment. trump has not been back in the oval office since january 17 of 2021. he left and he didn't participate in those transition ceremonies and wasn't there for ever -- inauguration day. what i have been struck by in these last couple of weeks is this sudden era of good feeling. vice president harris quickly

concedes, gets on the phone to congratulate donald trump. certainly, the president followed suit, invited trump to the white house. there's a lot of talk about unity. let's not forget, though, this was an incredibly divisive campaign. while they want to talk about unity, republicans and democrats now, they spent the better part of 1.5 years calling each other essential threats to democracy. you had trump and harris calling each other fascist. i certainly think that all of us might want that rhetoric set aside, but let's not pretend everyone is feeling better all of a sudden. host: philip wegmann from real clear politics, joining us to discuss the white house. terry, good morning. caller: on the department of education, carter developed, as president, ordered it in 1979,

we were first in the world in education, today we are 24th. really, what do we need it for. let's distribute the money to the states closer to the people with the caveat that if you decide you want to be a social engineering education, you don't get the money. as to the pipedream that the last reporters had on stating that there would be all of this infighting in the house and senate, no. this was a mandate. the reason that there were fights in the house were because the laws they tried to bring up were not conservative enough. they knew it wouldn't get through the senate. there is no longer a problem there. i will also tell you that this idea that the senators will be able to hold up the bills? not at 53, they won't. if they use the filibuster too much, they will get rid of it. let's face it, if the democrats won, it was gone.

host: what do you think? guest: let's take those in turn. with regards to the infighting, the caller raises an interesting point. in my conversation with senate republicans, they are of the opinion that whoever trump puts up for conversation and these cabinet positions, he's going to get it. that's an indication of just what these guys are expecting. vice president harris was right in one regard. she said imagine him with no guard rails and there is not a lot of pushback from republicans currently. can you think of any anti-trump republicans in a position of prominence in congress right now? no. guy's like mitt romney, jeff flake, and others who were a burr in the saddle or threw a wrench in it last time around, they are not there anymore. trump didn't take control of the republican party as much as he tightened his grasp.

allies in the senate and congress, he has a lot of political capital. we already heard reporting from susie wilde, the incoming white house chief of staff, she knows they have a very tight window, probably the year before the coming midterms, to get as much done as possible. to the point about the department of education, i think that elon musk and others made this argument that the u.s. was once first in education and standards have fallen. certainly test scores are down. this type of conversation, it shows the trump on the floor nature. people are saying they want things to change in there is frustration among the conservative base that there is policy, be it education, immigration, or energy enforced. it doesn't seem to reflect the will of the average voter.

host: we heard about the america first policy. what degree of influence will it have over this administration? guest: it's essentially a white house in waiting, that was their nickname the years after the first trump administration. they didn't leave washington, d.c. when trump laughed, they just went down the street. they are led by the domestic policy head of the previous administration. they were distinct from project 2025. they didn't join the endeavor, but they did something similar. they got a lot of former cabinet heads and staffers, they said get to work. what will a second trump administration look like? heritage said they were ready to work with any republican and with staff loyalists. they were very much looking for a second trump term.

host: >> caller: , okay. can you hear me now? >> host: go ahead. >> caller: i heard on the radio and i'm surprised that is not on tvth or the news, this judgment is not mentioning it either yet, that biden has opportunity to nominate judges, and the senate has, well we know the senate has the approval, has a power to approve the judges that he nominates, a controlled democratic senate, they can do it. c well, trump is trying to shut down the senate, place and income i forgot the turn the jews, i will just say take them out of session until he becomes president so that he can appoint the judges.

and that, biden has that power as the current president and the senate has that power as the current senate here and i just am tired of seeing all the disruptions that are taking place and it's awful. >> guest: i think joyce raises a good question their. she might be overstating the influence of donald trump in terms of the day-to-day function of the u.s. senate but she's absolutely correct. you have republicans were saying wait a minute, if there are federal judgeships that are open, if there are seats that have yet to be filled, we don't want biden's nominees to be confirmed. use senate republicans trying to slow that down. this is majority leader schumer's prerogative. he's going to be working overtime in these last 100 days or so to get as many confirmations as possible. you better believe the republicans either through loose

lips or through other parliamentary wrangling, they are going to fight them, though he to try to keep as many of these judgeships open because one of the big opportunities for any president is try to remake the judiciary and in either more conservative or liberal direction. >> host: one more call from charlotte, north carolina. independent line. >> caller: thank you for taking my call. my question is in the light of the 2025 project asje far as the department of education. they are removing the crt. the crt is not at elementary level but on a collegiate level and it's there to teach the groundwork for the, plight of african-americans through the passage. why is this that you fights against that, that you want remove, therefore denying our

history likes. >> guest: certainly no one is put in charge of education policy. that would be a bad idea and certainly know what else pays me for my opinions. but i thinknk the caller does raise an interesting point which as we saw a lot of animation among conservatives when you came to questions of critical race theory. if you talk to a conservative they will say no, a kindergartner is not reading kimberly crenshaw, at the collegiate level scholar. but the argument is critical theory is influencing u.s. education textbooks and that certainly you can see the influence that may be student would see in high school and middle school or high school. they're what you deemphasize that. i'm notto certain what specific policy the incoming administration would have on this but whoever trump puts as his education secretary, they likely are not going to privilege this sort of thing.

again i think a lot of the individual policy individual curriculum will be decided by the states, but these controversies that pop up and motivate theer face, now the question is all right politicians were able to controo the passions of voters, able to fund raise of others, able to motivate people to get out and vote. now what are those politicians going to do? how are they going to govern? >> host: one more question. have you heard any rumbling that might serve as a white house secretary or communications team. >> guest: that's the direction that will impact my life every day. wet: are going to take a closer look at some of the folks who were interacting with reporters on the campaign trail, steven cheung, caroline leavitt. i'm not certain if those two press sectors o'quinn want to to be behind the podium. we knowd trump though want someone who was dyed in the wool, maga warrior, someone who can really be aggressive.

like kayla machen t was. what's interesting matter was sean spicer, he came on board. he was an old hand, very professional guy but like many of the folks he was new to maga. there's a somewhat dammit with sarah huckabee sanders. but with my kaylee she relished the fights fight so she o that room and away republican press secretary in the bush or reagan administrations might have. she saw this as combat with an audience of one. ii would expect whoever the incomingie president names as hs press secretary, fits them altogether question is are we going to have these early briefings? we've had the with theve biden administration every single day. that'sve important in a demonstration that doesn't leak but with the trump administration what we saw is the importance of the daily briefing kind of lessened. long stretches whether certain happen. the wasn't a problem. his access was great to a lot of

the key decision-makers, this is philip wegmann of real clear politics. thanks for your time. >> guest: thank you so much. >> today house oversight subcommittee holds a a secondy on the governments investigation into u.s. of also known as uaps identified anomalous phenomenon. watch that live at 11:30 a.m. eastern on c-span3, c-span now a a free mobile app or online at c-span.org. >> join booktv this weekend for the texas book festival live from austin. our coverage begins saturday at 11 a.m. eastern and sunday at noon. highlights include pbs with hiss book we are home on immigration and the process of becoming an american. the "washington post" discussing her book the sisterhood on women in the caa. former doj inspector general glenn fine and his book

watchdog, on the role of an inspector general. and the fall of rome on post-roe america. watch the texas book festival live this weekend on booktv on c-span2 pic to see the full texas book festival scheduled visit our website booktv.org. >> c-span is run from a view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more including mediacom. >> nearly 30 years ago mediacom was founded on a powerful idea. bring cutting edge broadband to under circular days from coast-to-coast we connected 850,000 miles of fiber. our team broke speed barriers come delivered one peak speed to every customer, has led the way in developing a 10g platform and now with mediacom mobile is offering the fastest most reliable network on the go. ..