Project 2025 in Action: How Trump and Musk Are Reshaping America for the Few at the Expense of the Many
By Justin Jest – Gonzo Journalist, Reluctant Realist, Connoisseur of Chaos
There’s a script playing out in Washington right now—one written long before Trump walked back into the White House. Project 2025, a far-right blueprint for dismantling federal protections and restructuring government to favor corporate elites and conservative ideologues, is no longer just a plan—it’s reality.
And while the headlines might make this sound like abstract policy shifts, these changes affect real people. They affect you, your family, your neighbors, and the millions of Americans just trying to get by.
Let’s break it down.
1. The End of DEI: If You’re Not Rich, White, and Male, Good Luck
What’s Happening:
- Trump and Musk’s government efficiency unit have been systematically eliminating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs across federal agencies.
- Federal hiring and promotion policies no longer prioritize diversity—meaning corporate boardrooms, universities, and federal offices will go back to being dominated by the same old power structures.
- Government contracts no longer require diversity benchmarks, meaning small minority-owned businesses are losing opportunities that once helped level the playing field.
How This Affects You (or Someone You Know):
- If you’re a woman in the workplace? That glass ceiling just got reinforced.
- If you’re a minority business owner? The contracts that kept your company afloat are now going to big, established firms.
- If you’re a disabled veteran? The hiring programs designed to help you find federal employment just vanished.
Bottom line: If you’re not already in a position of privilege, the system is being rewritten to make sure you never get there.
2. The FDA Overhaul: The Drugs You Need Might Disappear, While the Ones You Don’t Get Rushed to Market
What’s Happening:
- Fast-track approvals for new drugs—which sounds great until you realize it means weaker safety testing.
- Big Pharma gets even more power—while Musk’s team strips away regulations that prevented drug price gouging.
- Abortion pills? Gone. The FDA, under Trump’s directive, is actively working to reverse the approval of mifepristone, cutting off medical abortion access.
How This Affects You (or Someone You Know):
- If you have a rare disease? That experimental treatment might be available faster—but without full safety trials, you could be a test subject, not a patient.
- If you take insulin? Price caps are disappearing, meaning Big Pharma can charge whatever they want.
- If you or someone you love needs an abortion? The government just decided it’s not up to you anymore.
Bottom line: The FDA is now less about protecting consumers and more about pushing a political and corporate agenda.
3. The Education Overhaul: Public Schools Get Left to Rot
What’s Happening:
- The Department of Education is being gutted—its funding redirected to private schools and religious academies.
- Head Start is being eliminated, meaning low-income kids lose early education opportunities.
- Federal oversight of discrimination in schools is being stripped away.
How This Affects You (or Someone You Know):
- If you’re a single mom working a service job? Your toddler no longer has a Head Start program, leaving you scrambling for childcare you can’t afford.
- If you live in a rural or low-income area? Your school is losing federal funding, while the state funnels tax dollars into charter schools that don’t serve your community.
- If your child has a disability? The office that protected their right to accommodations has been shut down.
Bottom line: If you’re not wealthy enough to send your kid to private school, your child’s education just became collateral damage.
4. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Is Dead: The Banks Win, You Lose
What’s Happening:
- The CFPB—the only agency standing between you and predatory lenders—is being dismantled.
- Credit card companies, payday lenders, and mortgage servicers now have free rein to hike interest rates, bury fees, and rig contracts.
How This Affects You (or Someone You Know):
- If you have student loans? No more oversight on shady lending practices.
- If you use a credit card? Expect higher interest rates, more hidden fees, and fewer consumer protections.
- If you’re buying a home? That mortgage contract just became a legal minefield with zero oversight.
Bottom line: If you’ve ever needed a loan, a credit card, or a mortgage, the people writing the fine print just got a green light to screw you over.
5. Union Busting: Your Paycheck Just Got Smaller
What’s Happening:
- Trump’s NLRB is reversing every pro-worker protection put in place over the past decade.
- Gig workers are now permanently classified as independent contractors—meaning no benefits, no overtime, no protections.
- Union decertification is being fast-tracked—making it easier for corporations to crush organizing efforts.
How This Affects You (or Someone You Know):
- If you’re a rideshare driver or delivery worker? You’ll never be considered an employee, so forget about minimum wage, benefits, or sick leave.
- If you’re in a union job? Your company can now force a vote to decertify your union at any time—and you won’t have the legal power to fight back.
- If you work retail or food service? Expect longer hours, lower pay, and fewer protections—because labor laws just got rewritten in favor of your boss.
Bottom line: If you work for a living, you just lost bargaining power.
6. The Tax Plan: The Rich Get Richer, You Get the Bill
What’s Happening:
- Corporate tax rates are being slashed to 18%, the lowest in modern history.
- Capital gains taxes are capped at 15%, meaning billionaires pay a lower rate than you do.
- Middle-class deductions are being eliminated, meaning your taxes are actually going up.
How This Affects You (or Someone You Know):
- If you’re a middle-class worker? You’re losing deductions for childcare, student loans, and homeownership—while your boss’s tax rate drops.
- If you own a small business? Sorry—the new tax cuts favor giant corporations, not you.
- If you invest in stocks? Unless you’re already filthy rich, you won’t see the benefits.
Bottom line: If you don’t own a mega-corporation, you’re paying for the rich to get richer.
7. The War on Social Safety Nets: If You Need Help, Too Bad
What’s Happening:
- SNAP (food stamps) is getting strict work requirements—even for people in high-unemployment areas.
- Medicaid is being cut and block-granted, meaning states can reduce eligibility and benefits.
- Federal housing assistance is being slashed.
How This Affects You (or Someone You Know):
- If you’re working a low-wage job? You could lose food assistance because of arbitrary work requirements.
- If you rely on Medicaid? Expect cuts to coverage, benefits, and accessibility.
- If you’re struggling to afford rent? The programs that helped keep people housed are disappearing.
Bottom line: The government just decided that poverty is a personal failure, not a systemic issue.
Welcome to the New America—Brought to You by Trump, Musk, and Project 2025
These aren’t just policy changes. This is a deliberate restructuring of government to benefit the wealthy, corporations, and conservative ideologues—while leaving working Americans to fend for themselves.
The rules are being rewritten.
And unless you’re already rich, powerful, or politically connected, you’re not part of the winning team.
Time to wake up.
