Politics in 2026 feels like a fever dream sometimes. You’ve probably heard the name Project 2025 tossed around more than a hot potato at a backyard BBQ. For a while, it was the ultimate political boogeyman. Then it was a "nothingburger." But if you actually want to understand the current administration, you have to look at the guy who basically bridge-built the whole thing: Vice President JD Vance.
Honestly, the connection between JD Vance on Project 2025 isn't just a list of policy points. It’s a deep, personal friendship with the architects of the movement. While Donald Trump spent much of the 2024 campaign doing the "I don't know her" routine with the Heritage Foundation, Vance was busy writing the foreword for their president's book.
The Foreword That Sparked a Thousand Headlines
Let’s talk about Kevin Roberts. He’s the head of the Heritage Foundation and the guy who famously said we were in the middle of a "second American Revolution," which would remain bloodless "if the left allows it." Kinda heavy, right?
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Well, JD Vance didn't just know Roberts; he was a fan. Vance wrote the foreword for Roberts’s book, Dawn’s Early Light. In those pages, Vance didn't hold back. He called the Heritage Foundation the "most influential engine of ideas" for the Republican party. He even used some pretty vivid imagery, suggesting it was time to "circle the wagons and load the muskets."
People freaked out.
Critics called it a "call to revolution." Vance’s team, on the other hand, said he was just talking about being prepared for a tough policy fight. They argued that "loading the muskets" was a metaphor for having the right ideas ready to go. Whether you buy that or not, it shows how closely JD Vance on Project 2025 was aligned before he even took the oath of office.
What JD Vance Actually Thinks of the "Mandate"
If you sit down and read the 900-page Mandate for Leadership (which, let's be real, almost nobody has actually done cover-to-cover), you see a lot of Vance’s fingerprints. Or at least his vibes.
Vance has gone on record saying he’s reviewed a lot of it and that "there are some good ideas in there." He’s been particularly vocal about:
- Reining in Big Tech: He’s not a fan of how Google and Meta operate.
- The "Christian View" of Family: He’s big on policies that encourage people to get married and have kids.
- Dismantling the "Deep State": This is the core of Project 2025—the idea that the President should be able to fire thousands of civil servants and replace them with loyalists.
But here’s the kicker. Vance is also a politician. When things got too hot during the election, he’d pivot. On CNN, he told Dana Bash that Project 2025 isn't "affiliated" with the campaign. He tried to have it both ways: praising the people behind it while keeping the "official" agenda separate.
The Abortion and IVF Complication
This is where things got messy. A 2017 report from the Heritage Foundation, which Vance wrote an introduction for, was pretty harsh on things like IVF and suggested a national abortion ban.
When that resurfaced, it was a headache.
Vance’s spokesperson, Luke Schroeder, had to jump in and say the Senator supports IVF and doesn't agree with every single opinion in a seven-year-old report. It’s a classic "personnel is policy" problem. If you hang out with the Heritage crowd, people assume you want exactly what they want.
Why This Matters in 2026
We’re seeing the results now. In the first few months of the current term, analysis showed that nearly two-thirds of the administration's executive actions mirrored proposals from Project 2025.
The Department of Education? Under fire.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau? On the chopping block.
Schedule F? Reinstated to make it easier to hire and fire federal workers.
It turns out the "denials" during the campaign were mostly tactical. The blueprints were always on the desk.
Actionable Takeaways for Following This Story:
- Watch the Appointments: Don't look at the speeches; look at who is getting hired. If they are Heritage Foundation alumni, Project 2025 is happening.
- Follow the Executive Orders: Many of these changes don't go through Congress. They happen via the "Unitary Executive Theory" which gives the President massive control over the bureaucracy.
- Listen to Vance's Podcasts: He’s often much more candid on long-form conservative podcasts than he is on Sunday morning news shows. That's where you'll hear the real policy goals.
The reality of JD Vance on Project 2025 is that he was the bridge between the old-school think tanks and the new-school MAGA movement. He provided the intellectual "muscle" for the ideas that are now becoming law. Understanding his specific ties to Kevin Roberts and the Heritage Foundation is the only way to predict what’s coming next for the federal government.
To stay ahead of these shifts, you should track the implementation of "Schedule F" reclassifications within federal agencies. These moves are the clearest indicator of whether the Project 2025 personnel strategy is being fully executed. You can also monitor the Federal Register for new rules regarding the Department of Education and the EPA, as these are the primary targets for the structural "dismantling" described in the Heritage Foundation's original mandate.