Newsletter: Project 2025’s Anti-Democracy Guidebook

As Election Day draws closer, a growing chorus is warning of the threat former President Trump poses to American institutions and democracy. 

This includes the Trump-allied Project 2025, an agenda created by the Heritage Foundation that outlines how a second Trump administration could enact policies that would consolidate power in the executive branch, slash funding for many government programs, further restrict reproductive rights, implement even harsher immigration policies, and more.

This week, Court Accountability Action launched the Project 2025 Administration, a detailed resource that highlights the current risks to our democracy and the activities of Trump’s top allies. The Project 2025 Administration outlines the concrete risks to reproductive freedoms, clean air and water, LGBTQ+ rights, gun violence prevention, and voting rights.

• American Oversight spent years investigating the Trump administration’s abuses of power, and our research and public records we obtained were used to map out potential key appointees in a potential second Trump presidency.
  
• You can explore our investigations and learn more here.

Emergency Motion to Prevent Illegal Georgia Election Rules from Proceeding

American Oversight on Wednesday filed a motion for an interlocutory injunction and a temporary restraining order against the Georgia State Election Board (SEB) to prevent two controversial new rules from advancing.

The rules were approved during a last-minute meeting on July 12, which took place without legally required public notice or a proper quorum.

• Last week, we filed a lawsuit against the SEB for violating the state’s Open Meetings Act, asking the court to prevent the board from moving ahead with its proposed rule changes and to declare the actions at the meeting invalid.
  
• “The illegal rules approved by three rogue board members — reportedly acting at the behest of Republican Party operatives — could wreak havoc this November as anti-democratic actors seek to sway results in favor of their preferred candidates by undermining trust in our elections,” American Oversight’s interim Executive Director Chioma Chukwu said.

• “Without immediate court intervention, Georgia voters and election workers will be deprived of their right to shape rules that impact their ability to safely participate in free and fair elections,” she added. “We trust the court will recognize the urgency and prevent the rules from advancing, protecting Georgians from irreparable harm.” 

The SEB has so far not taken any steps or made any public commitment to walk back its unlawful conduct.

• One of the rules requires county election boards to post daily online ballot counts on their websites. The other purports to increase the number of partisan poll monitors at ballot-counting centers.
• Reporting by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution revealed that the first rule’s text was provided by the Georgia Republican Party chair, and that a similar version of the other rule was also shared by the state GOP.

On the Records

West Virginia Spent More Than $900,000 to Send Troops to Border

Records we obtained show that West Virginia spent more than $900,000 to send National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border in 2023 to support Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star.

• West Virginia Watch, which reported on the documents this week, said the funds were “used to send 53 members of the Guard, who all volunteered for the mission to Eagle Pass, Texas, for a month-long deployment.”
• In June 2023, weeks before the troops deployed, a representative for the state’s National Guard told WVNews the projected price was “in the $600K range.”

Earlier this month, States Newsroom’s Marisa Demarco reported on how more than a dozen Republican-led states have sent National Guard troops to the border this year, in addition to those deployed annually by the federal government.

• We’ve been investigating states’ involvement in border enforcement initiatives and anti-immigration actions, and have filed several public records requests seeking information about Operation Lone Star, including estimated costs and arrest numbers. Read more here.

Frank LaRose’s Office Move Cost More Than Expected, Records Show

Records we obtained, reported on by the Ohio Capital Journal’s Marty Schladen, show Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office move cost at least $747,000 — $147,000 more than the estimate he gave the public.

• LaRose moved his state office into the same building as his U.S. Senate campaign last year, raising concerns about potential conflicts of interest and other ethical issues.

• LaRose claimed the move would save money — but even with the initial $600,000 cost for moving expenses, taxpayers would not save money until 2077, Schladen reported.

• We had filed a public records request for documents related to the cost of the office relocation. The records we received include invoices from the movers and a spreadsheet of the office’s expenses from Aug. 17, 2023, to Jan. 19, 2024, which includes moving expenses.

Other Stories We’re Following

Election Denial and Threats to Democracy

• The voting machine conspiracy theorists are still at it (New York Times)
• Virginia militias continue to organize locally as experts worry over elections (VPM)
• In Texas, violating campaign ethics laws rarely yields repercussions. The attorney general’s office is to blame. (Texas Tribune)

Voting Rights

• Measure aimed at repealing Alaska’s ranked voting system still qualifies for ballot, officials say (Associated Press)
• The changing face of voter suppression: How SB 189 cleared the way for mass challenges in Georgia (USA Today)
• Ohio’s voter purge ‘disproportionately targets voters of color,’ civil rights organizations say (Ohio Capital Journal)
• How some states are making it harder to register voters (New York Times)

In the States

• Chair of police oversight board resigns after Mayor Adams pushes her out (New York Times)
• Youngkin names Scalia daughter to board of education (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
• Gov. Gavin Newsom issues executive order for removal of homeless encampments in California (CNN)

LGBTQ Rights

• Kim Davis’ legal counsel moves to make her appeal a springboard for overturning marriage rights (Kentucky Lantern)
• The conservative doctor who’s got the GOP’s ear on trans kids’ care (Politico)
• Sununu signs bans on trans girls in girls’ sports, gender-affirming surgeries for minors (New Hampshire Bulletin)
• Nebraska Supreme Court upholds law restricting both medical care for transgender youth and abortion (Associated Press)

Abortion and Reproductive Rights

• Arkansas court orders state to count signatures collected by volunteers for abortion-rights measure (Associated Press)
• Florida court dismisses state’s ‘moot’ appeal on abortion amendment’s financial impact (Tallahassee Democrat)
• Abortion rights supporters report having enough signatures to qualify for Montana ballot (Associated Press)

Threats to Education

• Republicans aim to take Florida’s education model nationwide (Axios)
• Georgia school superintendent nixes AP African American Studies course (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Alabama universities shutter DEI offices, open new programs, to comply with new state law (Associated Press)
• Inside the two-year fight to bring charges against school librarians in Granbury, Texas (NBC News)
• Oklahoma Superintendent Ryan Walters unveils guidelines for how to teach the Bible in schools (Oklahoma Voice)

Civil Rights

• Campus protests led to more than 3,100 arrests, but many charges have been dropped (New York Times)
• Police killing of Sonya Massey is striking example of another ‘senseless loss’ in the Black community (19th News)

Government Transparency and Public Records Law

• Schiff unveils bill extending FOIA transparency to judiciary (The Hill)
• Unredacted Alabama court documents shed new light on execution procedures (NBC News)
• Records: Walters, advisers continue billing taxpayers thousands for travel to partisan events, retreats, media appearances (KFOR Oklahoma City)
• Lawmaker calls for AG to investigate whether OSDE violated Open Records Act (KFOR Oklahoma City)

Immigration

• Lawsuit against DeSantis over migrant flights to Martha’s Vineyard is back on (Politico)
• Bus by bus, Texas’ governor changed migration across the US (New York Times)
• Some Democratic cities have quietly begun cooperating with ICE, director says (NBC News)

Trump Administration Accountability

• Justice Dept. watchdog criticizes Barr’s role in election inquiry (New York Times)
• A DHS report on Jan. 6 could drop soon. It could be bad for the Secret Service. (Politico)