If there is one word to describe the feeling of being a first-time voter paying attention to the 2024 presidential election, it’s “unpredictable.” Nothing has been more unnerving, however, than learning the details of Project 2025, a roughly 900-page document produced by the rightwing Heritage Foundation that proposes reforms that would restructure the federal government to align with a conservative vision of America.
Project 2025’s reforms include restrictions on abortion access, stricter immigration policies, expanded oil and gas drilling, abolishing the Department of Education, and much more. Donald Trump has publicly rejected the plan, claiming on social media that he “knows nothing” about it, even though many of the top officials from his administration were involved in writing the plan.
As a young voter, I have a lot of questions about Project 2025. Would Trump really implement it in his administration? How will it influence the election results? What do other young voters think about it? I live in a white picket fence part of suburban New Jersey where taxes are high, water is clean, and everyone is a Democrat; there has been little opportunity for me to talk about Project 2025 with young voters who are more conservative. So I signed up for the America in One Room conference, where 500 first-time voters from across the country met up from July 19 to 21 in Washington, D.C., for a weekend of deliberation on national policies.
As I walked into the Hyatt Regency Washington Hotel (which was decked out in American flags), I saw teenagers with red “Trump 2024” hats standing shoulder-to-shoulder with those wearing Biden-Harris sweatshirts, warily eyeing each other with the kind of skepticism that only partisan politics can inspire.
Promotional materials for the conference reflected the unique lack of trust in democracy among young voters currently: “A study done by Harvard’s Institute of Politics showed that 46 percent of young people believe that the country’s democracy is in trouble, and just 3 percent thought the democracy in the United States is healthy. Another study found that young adults are dissatisfied with our political system (57 percent) and most have no or little trust in government institutions (52 percent). At this historic conference, our conversations can take steps to change that.” Presentations at the opening ceremony contained similar themes, reinforcing a sentiment that we all felt—that belief in democracy, above all, will determine the results of the 2024 election.
Although Project 2025 wasn’t officially on the agenda, throughout the weekend I found time to chat with others at the conference. Their opinions about Project 2025 shed light on the diverse beliefs young voters have about its implications for our country and how it should influence the upcoming election.
I spoke with Orlena Fella, an incoming freshman at Wellesley College who is from New York City. She sees Project 2025 as something straight out of a Black Mirror episode.
“From what I’ve heard about Project 2025, I’m terrified,” she tells me. “It just seems like total destruction to everything we know and depend on . . . . It’s a thorough plan to restructure our democracy as some crazy Christian autocracy. Trump can try to distance himself or shake it off, but it was all designed with him in mind, and in the not-so-unlikely chance he wins, it will 100 percent become his roadmap.”
Fella believes that mainstream media should be talking more about Project 2025: “The Harris campaign has definitely [used] Project 2025 as a way to attack Trump, but all of this still doesn’t feel like enough. When I think about what Project 2025 could mean for our country and how close we are to that being our future, I go a little crazy. If we are not screaming this from the mountaintops 24/7, we are not doing enough. This election could not be more important. To me it feels like life or death.”
Similarly, Amber Diaz, an independent voter from Florida and incoming freshman at The New School, is scared of how Project 2025 could strip away the rights of minorities: “I am a first-generation Cuban American, and as a minority, I see this policy posing an incredible risk to most of the people in my community, as we are lower-income immigrants. This policy is eliminating a lot of existing bills and policies that protect us. Seeing this potentially going into effect across the United States would change my way of life tremendously.”
These two voices summarize the sentiments that many young voters feel about Project 2025: It’s the first step into a Republican autocracy if Trump wins a second term.
On the other hand, many young voters believe that the implementation of Project 2025 is highly improbable and that it is not fair to assume that the Trump Administration would implement it. This is a sentiment that I heard from both Republican and Democratic attendees. William Scott, an incoming freshman at Bowling Green State University in Ohio and a Republican, feels as though Project 2025 is being weaponized by the left.
“Project 2025 is a far-right, unrealistic policy agenda. It will not be signed into law,” Scott says. “Donald Trump has denounced it. I see it as a desperate grasp at straws by the left to fear monger voters who don’t do research for themselves.”
He is concerned about what a Democratic presidency could mean for the future of our country: “I am a believer in Jesus, and I hold myself to His standards as best as I can. I believe that our nation was designed for all different types of people. I do not expect all Americans to uphold Judeo-Christian morality, but the reality is that our nation was founded on these beliefs. I think we are taking a 180 from some of these truths.”
Some Democrats share doubts about Project 2025 being implemented, too.
Shreya Damodaran, a Democrat from Lake Washington High School in Redmond, Washington, is skeptical that some of the plan’s proposals would become a reality. “The notion of Christian ideals being taught in public schools seems blatantly unconstitutional,” she says. “I cannot fathom its implementation with SCOTUS cases like Engel v. Vitale, which establishes the unconstitutionality of school-sponsored prayers.” Attempts to implement a curriculum about the Bible and the Ten Commandments in Oklahoma classrooms, however, demonstrates that some MAGA supporters are already trying to undermine this precedent.
Diego Myers, a Democrat and incoming freshman at Oregon State University, is disappointed in the way his party has used Project 2025 as a scare tactic: “Project 2025 further polarizes the nation by making people think that conservatives all support Project 2025, when in reality it is truly extremists who want Project 2025 . . . . It is disappointing that [the media’s] argument is, ‘In order to keep my fundamental rights, I now have to vote for the Democratic Party.’ ”
I certainly got the “diverse political discussion” that I asked for when going to America in One Room: The conversations I had there about Project 2025 are evidence that young voters are starting to look past political theater and to critically analyze the platforms that politicians are running on. After all, these policies will affect the future of our democracy—and we should be talking about it.