If you’ve followed any election coverage this year, you’ve probably heard references to something called Project 2025.

It has become a bit of a shorthand for a larger proposed presidential transition plan for the next Republican president. Many of the plans for the next “conservative administration” that have been talked about come from a 900-plus page book called “Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise.”

Although the book is not officially Donald Trump’s platform, it has been written or edited by several people with ties to the Trump administration or campaigns. Kamala Harris and other members of the Democratic Party have worked to connect Trump’s campaign to some of the most unpopular ideas outlined in the book, including the national ban on abortion, the ban on TikTok, and the ban on pornography.

But some elements of the book have not been discussed as much, particularly those that could have discrete, specific effects on Maryland. We read the “Leadership Mandate” to find out what it is about.

Firing Federal Employees

About 158,475 federal employees live in Maryland, according to state data last year. Many of them could find themselves unemployed if Trump follows Project 2025’s suggestions.

Several parts of the plan call for reducing the federal workforce, restructuring federal agencies and, in some cases, privatizing parts of the government.

The plan also calls for replacing career and non-political employees with political appointees. That could mean Marylanders who work for federal agencies would lose job protections or be laid off. He promises to explain how to fire “so-called ‘unfireable’ federal bureaucrats” (p. 9) and asserts that “fundamentally” a new conservative administration “must fill its ranks with political appointees” (p. 20 ) and not give in. all authority to “non-partisan “experts”” (p. 21).

Gradually eliminate crab catchers?

Many Maryland businesses rely on international seasonal workers who pick and process crabs into crab meat. These workers use the H-2B Visa Programwhich allows employers to use temporary non-agricultural workers for short-term work.

And in previous years, lawmakers on both sides of the party have expressed support for the program, including the former Republican Party. Governor Larry Hogan And Representative Andy Harrisa Republican who represents the East Coast.

But Project 2025 calls for phasing out or eventually eliminating the H-2B visa program, which could make it even harder for producers who sell crab meat to find employees.

The “Leadership Mandate” calls on the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to “make clear” that he will not increase the number of H-2B season visas above the cap set by law (p. 138) and calls on Congress to cap it. the program at existing levels and phase it out within 10 years (p. 612).

The NIH, Cyber ​​Command, and the Naval Academy

The authors of Project 2025 suggest that course offerings at all military academies, including the Naval Academy in Annapolis – be audited and rid of “Marxist indoctrination,” and this mandate should be eliminated for academics (p. 104).

The National Institutes of Health, based in Bethesda, is also under scrutiny as part of the plan. As written, the plan would require Congress to ban research on fetal tissue and end its embryonic stem cell registry, which allows other researchers to access the cells for research purposes.

It would also impose “term limits” on “career leaders” at the NIH (p. 462) and call for NIH Foundation to dissolve.

U.S. Cyber ​​Command, based at Fort Meade, could also see its work redirected. For example, Project 2025 calls on Cyber ​​Command to stop its work to fortify elections (p. 120).

Food benefits and loan forgiveness

Project 2025 calls for reimplementing work requirements for food stamps and reforming categorical eligibility for food stamps (pages 299-300). According to to the latest federal dataabout 772,700 — or about 1 in 8 Marylanders — received SNAP in fiscal year 2022. Potential changes to how SNAP is administered would come at some point. when registrations drop and request for food assistance remains high as families face rising food prices.

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, which forgives outstanding direct loan balances after 10 years of eligible payments for people working at any level of government or non-profit organization programs – public school teachers, for example – would be eliminated under the Project 2025 proposals (p. 354).

As of June 2023, more than 20,000 Marylanders have had their loans canceled by the program, according to data from the Ministry of Education. Maryland has the fifth highest rate of residents with undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in the country, and therefore also ranks in the Top 10 states in college debt per capita.

The Heritage Foundation does everything Project 2025 available online for further reading.