As House Democrats try to tie Republicans to Project 2025, House Republicans are distancing themselves from Heritage Foundation’s blueprint for a potential second term for former President Donald Trump.

“Trump’s Project 2025 is the extreme MAGA Republican plan to exercise total control over the American people,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told Punchbowl News. “They can run from the manifesto, but we will not let them hide.”

Project 2025 is a 900-page blueprint for conservative and right-wing ideas, featuring input from former members of Trump’s administration.

The Trump campaign has repeatedly disavowed Project 2025 and said it has no involvement in it, sending out mailers in battleground states vowing not to tweak Social Security and Medicare.

“I don’t believe [Trump] had any involvement in crafting that project, and we should be honest about that,” Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., told Punchbowl.

Some of Project 2025’s initiatives that have generated controversy include banning pornography and dismantling the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., said the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank, has lost credibility with conservatives.

“I don’t pay a whole lot of attention to what comes out of Heritage anymore,” Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., told Punchbowl.

Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., said he has not and will not read Project 2025.

“Trump says he doesn’t support it,” Bacon said. “I think it’s become a fake talking point for the Dems.”CNN reported that at least 140 people who worked in the Trump administration had a hand in Project 2025.

Heritage President Kevin Roberts has said Trump has nothing to do with Project 2025, and that the organization has not even formally endorsed Trump.

© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.