One of the underpinnings of the radical right's 900+ page manifesto known as Project 2025 is the Unitary Executive Theory. That concept makes a president all-powerful, in direct opposition to the system built by our Founding Fathers. No one person can be trusted with absolute, unchecked authority.
The Unitary Executive Theory holds that the President should have sole and total control over the executive branch of government, which includes the Cabinet: the Vice President and the heads of 15 executive departments — the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs, as well as the Attorney General, who heads the Department of Justice. [www.whitehouse.gov/administration/cabinet]
Project 2025 prescribes the demolition of many of the Cabinet roles and their subjugation to the whims or demands of the President. One need only look at Felonious Trump’s dominion over his Attorneys General to see the future if he is returned to the Oval Office, as he refills his Tool Cabinet with even more obsequious pawns.
Fellow Substacker Bill Alstrom (billalstrom.substack.com) wrote a great 5-part series on the frightening document, each title beginning with, “The Coup is Underway.” The series, especially the final one (“…a Summation”) delves into some of the more troubling aspects of it.
Most troubling about Project 2025 is that it is not one-and-done, and doesn’t necessarily have to begin in 2025. It’s a roadmap for a dark and dangerous trip to a dystopian future, with no absolute time for departure or deadline for arrival. It’s obviously intended to be implemented in 2025 with Felonious Trump’s re-election, but it can be dusted off at any time, and can even be used for side-trips by adventurous MAGAlomaniacs.
The Unitary Executive Theory, on its face, may not sound too threatening, and perhaps even sounds efficient. Who wouldn’t want to be in a position to call the shots and get things done without opposition? But Project 2025 and its proponents take it to the extreme, and seek to eliminate any guardrails that would ensure that a future president couldn’t exploit or abuse a power ostensibly intended for efficiency.
Perhaps the biggest problem with the Unitary Executive Theory, aside from the risk of abuse, is that a Unitary Executive at best represents either a majority or minority of the population; compromise, a vital element in a democracy, is lost. At worst, a Unitary Executive represents only his own interests. History is rife with examples of the worst, and contemporary exemplars include the likes of Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, and Viktor Orban.
The Unitary Executive Theory concentrates too much unchecked power in the hands of one unaccountable person. If Project 2025 is ever implemented under a Republican president, it will remain for subsequent presidents. For those who support the Unitary Executive Theory, I'd simply ask, "Would you trust that power to any Democrat?
Hey Bob,
Thanks for the recognition. It is still stunning to me that Project 2025 isn't the equivalent of scientists announcing that there is an asteroid on its way to Earth. In any reasonable civilisation, Project 2025 would be recognized as the end of American democracy...unless you are a phony Christian or someone ready for the Rapture.
If there was any recognition of this threat...EVERY journalist interviewing ANY politician would ask them "What is your opinion of Project 2025? Do you agree with this version of a Handmaids Tale?"
After today's Supreme Court decision to not say specifically that the President has immunity from prosecution, but what it DIDN'T say is what terrifies me! The Project 2025 "manifesto" is more than terrifying! As is our current Supreme Court, as their decisions just continue to sow anxiety amongst us "liberals." I'm trying to limit my intake of news commentaries, and especially limit my TV news viewing and glad I don't have "expanded cable" to hear all the really BAD commentaries!
I'll be so glad when this is over, but we do have quite a way to go before that! As you saw on your column the other day, I was "trounced" by a lady who thought I was being awful towards Mr. Biden. But your comment was nice, and you obviously understood where I was coming from, as I'm very concerned about "perception" and so many of our young voters see our president as someone absolutely incapable of another term. This is my fear, too. If Ms. Harris can't handle it, then Speaker Johnson is next in line--I can't even begin to imagine HIM as president. We're behind the legendary "rock and a hard place," with all this insanity to worry about for the next four months! We all need to do as Churchill famously said: Keep Calm and Carry On!