Project 2025

WHEREAS, the AFT and our 1.8 million members believe that preserving our democracy is a defining principle of our work as educators, healthcare professionals, and state and local government workers and a core value of who we are as unionists and citizens; and

WHEREAS, historically the AFT has fought against fascism here and abroad, participated in the great battles of all of our civil rights movements and worked to maintain a strong, democratic union movement; and

WHEREAS, AFT members know that far-right forces’ beliefs are antithetical to the AFT’s as they work to undermine:

• Democratic institutions and norms of our government and civil society, including the rule of law;
• An independent judiciary and free press;
• Equality under the law, including the rights of people of color, believers in minority religious faiths, members of our LGBTQIA+ community and immigrants; and
• The right to freely organize and associate for working Americans; and

WHEREAS, the enemies of democracy have written down exactly what they intend to do: Project 2025 is a 900-page road map for how a new, far-right, anti-democratic presidential administration can concentrate power and authority and override the checks and balances outlined in our Constitution without congressional approval; and

WHEREAS, Project 2025 is funded by the Heritage Foundation and other similar organizations and was written by former Trump Administration officials, current Trump advisers and other anti-democratic extremists to provide guidance for the first 180 days of a Trump administration; and

WHEREAS, while many of the suggested plans and actions in Project 2025 would be considered illegal, we know from recent decisions that the judiciary no longer operates independently of the executive branch offering no guarantee of impartiality; and

WHEREAS, Project 2025 will cut and privatize Social Security and Medicare, allow employers to stop paying overtime, strip healthcare protections for people with pre-existing conditions, call for a nationwide abortion ban, dismantle the Department of Education, increase costs on the middle class while giving a tax break to the ultra wealthy, attack academic freedom, dismantle civil rights protections, end efforts to combat climate change, and weaponize the National Labor Relations Board against workers; and

WHEREAS, Project 2025’s plans for public education are draconian and would end public education and public higher education as we know it:

RESOLVED, the AFT will activate our 1.8 million members and oppose Project 2025 and any related legislation; and

RESOLVED, the AFT opposes candidates who support Project 2025 and any related legislation.