Democracy Forward

Project 2025 is Already Underway in the Courts

If a far-right president was empowered to politicize the Department of Justice (DOJ), it could refuse to defend the freedoms, protections, and programs under attack in the cases below, ensuring that these aspects of Project 2025 are enshrined into law.

Here are just some of the Project 2025 goals that right-wing extremists are pushing to achieve in courtrooms across the country, providing a glide path to implementing their dangerous playbook:

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The Threats

Even though the U.S. Supreme Court ruled this term that the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine (AHM) does not have standing in their case against the Federal Drug Administration (FDA), access to mifepristone remains at risk as the case, FDA v. AHM*, continues before Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, and anti-abortion attorneys general in Idaho, Missouri, and Kansas continue to pursue this same case against the safe, effective medication. (Aligns with Mandate for Leadership (MFL) page 458, and others.)

There is currently a lawsuit* underway in which corporations and lobbying groups are requesting a federal court get rid of a U.S. Department of Labor rule which expands overtime pay for 4.3 million workers. (MFL page 592.)

Medicare now has the authority to negotiate the price of some of the most expensive prescription drugs thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). However, drugmakers and lobbyists have filed a number of pending lawsuits* across the country in an attempt to block the cost-lowering program. (MFL page 465.)

In March 2024, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld* a Texas law that requires parental consent for minors to obtain contraception, even though federal law allows teens to confidentially obtain birth control through Title X. Texas filed a similar, follow-up lawsuit in late July 2024. (MFL pages 483 – 484)

The Biden administration’s latest student loan repayment plan is being challenged by attorneys general from right-wing states who have filed suit, arguing that the plan is an example of federal overreach. (MFL pages 353-354)

  •  In Braidwood Management Inc. v. Becerra,* challengers allege that portions of the Affordable Care Act that require insurance companies to cover preventive services without a copay are illegal, in an action that could affect over 150 million people in the U.S.—especially women and women of color. The issue has been sent back to the district court, but the federal government has indicated it will seek review now in the Supreme Court. (MFL pages 483 – 484) 

*Democracy Forward represents clients in the matter (e.g. medical experts defending Medicare negotiations).

Read our full report on Project 2025 here, including additional research on its Day One proposals. To speak with us about this report or how our team of legal experts will challenge the people and organizations behind Project 2025, email [email protected].