Last updated: July 25, 2026 at 13:40 UTC. This page refreshes automatically as new developments are verified.
Project 2025 is the 920-page policy blueprint published by the Heritage Foundation ahead of the second Trump administration. This page tracks its implementation in real time and explains, with primary-source citations, what each development means for the Black community. Each timeline entry is cross-referenced to the specific page of the blueprint where the action was called for.
Latest Headlines
- Trump Nominates Adam Candeub, Big Tech Critic With No Antitrust Trial Record, to Lead DOJ Division – Tech Times — Tech Times
- Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions – Just Security — Just Security
- Union objects to Donald Trump administration move to privatize security at Tampa International Airport – Florida Politics — Florida Politics
Timeline
2026-06-25 — Education Department moves again to shut down Equity Assistance Centers
The Department of Education published a Federal Register notice proposing to rescind the regulations governing its four Equity Assistance Centers, the Civil Rights Act-era program that helps state and local school systems handle desegregation, harassment, and discrimination issues. The centers served 24 state education agencies, 222 districts, and 145 schools across 46 states in fiscal year 2022. The department cited reduced demand compared to 1969 levels and said it wants to explore other means of service delivery, with EAC functions potentially shifting to the Justice Department. The public comment period closes July 27, 2026; a federal court previously ordered the continuation of one center after an earlier attempt to eliminate the program.
Source: K-12 Dive
📖 Blueprint: Ch. 11, p. 319 — Education: dismantle federal civil-rights-enforcement infrastructure in schools
2026-06-23 — Heritage Foundation confirms over half of Project 2025 now enacted
The Heritage Foundation publicly acknowledged that the Trump administration has implemented more than half of Project 2025's 920-page blueprint — including sweeping rollbacks of civil rights enforcement, DEI programs, environmental protections, and federal workforce independence. Bloomberg Law and multiple outlets confirmed the milestone. Civil rights advocates say the pace of implementation outstrips public awareness of its scope.
Source: Bloomberg Law
📖 Blueprint: Heritage Foundation, Mandate for Leadership (2023) — all 30 chapters
2026-06-16 — Education Department hands off civil rights enforcement to DOJ, special ed to HHS
The Department of Education signed interagency agreements transferring day-to-day civil rights enforcement in schools to the Justice Department and special-education oversight (the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services) to Health and Human Services. Civil rights advocates and former agency staff warned that DOJ, a law-enforcement agency with no education-specific expertise, can only act through litigation rather than the proactive investigations ED conducted, reducing recourse for students facing discrimination.
Source: NPR
📖 Blueprint: Ch. 11, p. 319 — Education: "transfer OCR to DOJ where it may 'enforce only through litigation'"
2026-06-09 — DOJ declares EEOC disparate-impact discrimination guidance unconstitutional
The Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel concluded that the EEOC's longstanding disparate-impact guidance under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is unconstitutional, arguing Title VII "guarantees equal treatment, not equal outcomes." Civil rights groups warn this removes a key tool used to challenge systemic workplace discrimination.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
📖 Blueprint: Ch. 18, p. 582–583 — DOL: "Eliminate disparate impact liability" + Ch. 17, p. 547: Civil Rights Division under political leadership
2026-02-01 — Independent tracker: over half of Project 2025's domestic agenda enacted
The Center for Progressive Reform, working with Governing for Impact, reported that the administration had initiated or completed 283 of the 532 recommended executive actions in Project 2025 (about 53%) across 20 federal agencies within the first year.
Source: Center for Progressive Reform
📖 Blueprint: Heritage Foundation, Mandate for Leadership (2023) — 920-page blueprint
2025-01-24 — Labor Department halts OFCCP affirmative-action enforcement
Acting Labor Secretary Vincent Micone III issued Secretary's Order 03-2025, directing the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to immediately cease enforcement, investigations, and conciliation agreements tied to the rescinded EO 11246 affirmative-action rules.
Source: Congress.gov (CRS Legal Sidebar)
📖 Blueprint: Ch. 18, p. 583 — DOL: "Eliminate OFCCP" + p. 582: "Eliminate racial classifications"
2025-01-21 — Executive order rescinds affirmative-action requirements for federal contractors
On his first day in office, President Trump signed "Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity," rescinding Executive Order 11246 (1965), which had barred federal contractors from discriminating based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin and required affirmative-action plans.
Source: Federal Register
📖 Blueprint: Ch. 18, p. 583–584 — DOL: "Rescind EO 11246. Eliminate OFCCP."
Impact & Implications for the Black Community
Employment & Civil Rights Enforcement
The rescission of Executive Order 11246 ends affirmative-action obligations for roughly a quarter of the U.S. workforce employed by federal contractors, removing decades of oversight aimed at closing racial gaps in hiring and pay (Congressional Research Service, 2025). The Justice Department’s June 2026 opinion against EEOC disparate-impact guidance further narrows the legal tools available to challenge employment practices that produce racially unequal outcomes, even without proof of intentional bias (U.S. Department of Justice, 2026).
Education & DEI Programs
Project 2025 calls for eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion offices and programs across federal agencies and federally funded institutions. The Thurgood Marshall Institute warns this threatens funding and support structures that historically Black colleges and universities and Black students at predominantly white institutions rely on, and risks removing curricula that address systemic racism (Thurgood Marshall Institute at LDF, n.d.).
Voting Rights & Political Participation
Civil rights organizations tracking Project 2025’s executive actions report a pattern of weakened voting-rights enforcement at the federal level, which advocates say could allow discriminatory state-level voting changes to go unchallenged (NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, n.d.).
GOP Bills to Watch
- H.R. 1282 — Eliminate DEI in Colleges Act (Introduced, 119th Congress (2025–2026)): Would bar federal funding to colleges and universities that operate DEI offices or programs.
- S. 382 — Dismantle DEI Act of 2025 (Introduced, 119th Congress (2025–2026)): Senate companion effort targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in higher education.
Blueprint Cross-Reference: What the Mandate for Leadership Called For
Source: Heritage Foundation, Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise (2023), 920 pp. ISBN 978-0-89195-174-2. Editors: Paul Dans & Steven Groves.
Ch. 17 — Dept. of Justice, p. 545 — Mandate for Leadership (2023)
“Conduct a "top-to-bottom overhaul" of DOJ and FBI; terminate all existing consent decrees and settlement agreements on Day 1.”
✅ ENACTED DOJ terminated police reform consent decrees in Baltimore, Louisville, Minneapolis and other majority-Black cities in 2025.
Community impact: Removes court-supervised police reform in cities hit hardest by discriminatory policing. Black residents lose key legal protections.
Ch. 17 — Dept. of Justice, p. 553 — Mandate for Leadership (2023)
“Take legal action against local DAs who refuse to prosecute based on the Left's "favored defining characteristics of the would-be offender (race, so-called gender identity, etc.)"”
⏳ IN PROGRESS DOJ has issued warnings to progressive DAs in Philadelphia, Chicago, and other cities. Federal intervention ongoing.
Community impact: Targets locally elected DAs in majority-Black cities, threatening elected prosecutorial discretion in communities of color.
Ch. 17 — Dept. of Justice / Civil Rights Division, p. 547 — Mandate for Leadership (2023)
“Require the Civil Rights Division to have "committed direction from the department's political leadership" — ending career-staff autonomy on civil rights enforcement.”
✅ ENACTED Trump DOJ restructured Civil Rights Division under political appointees; June 2026 OLC memo declared EEOC disparate-impact guidance unconstitutional.
Community impact: Eliminates systemic discrimination enforcement. The June 2026 DOJ ruling on disparate-impact directly removes the legal tool used to challenge racially unequal workplace outcomes.
Ch. 18 — Dept. of Labor, p. 583 — Mandate for Leadership (2023)
“Rescind Executive Order 11246; eliminate OFCCP; eliminate EEO-1 racial employment data collection; ban CRT trainings via executive order.”
✅ ENACTED EO 11246 rescinded Jan. 21, 2025. OFCCP enforcement halted Jan. 24, 2025. EEO-1 collection suspended. Federal CRT ban enacted.
Community impact: Removes affirmative-action requirements for ~25% of U.S. workforce (federal contractors). Eliminates the data infrastructure used to document and prove racial employment discrimination.
Ch. 18 — Dept. of Labor / EEOC, p. 582 — Mandate for Leadership (2023)
“"Eliminate disparate impact liability" — make statistical proof of racial inequality insufficient to establish employment discrimination under Title VII and other laws.”
⏳ IN PROGRESS DOJ OLC declared EEOC disparate-impact guidance unconstitutional (June 9, 2026). Legislation to amend Title VII pending.
Community impact: Eviscerates the primary legal theory used to challenge hiring screens, lending practices, and sentencing policies that produce racially unequal outcomes without requiring proof of racist intent.
Ch. 11 — Dept. of Education, p. 319 — Mandate for Leadership (2023)
“Eliminate the Department of Education entirely; convert Title I low-income school funding to a no-strings block grant; transfer OCR to DOJ where it may "enforce only through litigation."”
⏳ IN PROGRESS Executive orders and budget proposals in 2025–2026 have moved to dismantle the department. Secretary McMahon directed agency reduction. Block-grant legislation introduced. On June 16, 2026, ED signed interagency agreements moving civil rights enforcement to DOJ and special-ed oversight to HHS.
Community impact: Title I funds ~$18B/yr to schools in low-income (disproportionately Black) districts. Eliminating oversight converts it to unrestricted state money with no civil rights strings attached.
Ch. 11 — Dept. of Education, p. 322 — Mandate for Leadership (2023)
“"Safeguarding civil rights. Enforcement of civil rights should be based on a proper understanding of those laws, rejecting gender ideology and critical race theory."”
✅ ENACTED OCR under Trump administration issued guidance redefining civil rights enforcement to exclude race-conscious programming and DEI initiatives at schools.
Community impact: Schools risk losing federal funding for any race-conscious programming, including HBCU-prep programs, diversity scholarships, and culturally responsive curricula.
Ch. 11 — Dept. of Education / HBCUs, p. 327 — Mandate for Leadership (2023)
“HBCU funding through OPE should be "narrowed" and "block-granted" — converting targeted HBCU support into discretionary state block grants.”
🕐 PENDING Proposed in budget reconciliation (2025–2026). Senate vote pending.
Community impact: HBCUs educate ~10% of Black college students but receive targeted federal support. Converting to block grants lets states redirect funds away from HBCUs with no federal accountability.
Ch. 14 — Dept. of Health & Human Services, p. 449 — Mandate for Leadership (2023)
“Eliminate HHS's "promoting equity in everything we do" mission; eliminate CDC gender identity data collection; split CDC into two agencies severing policy from data.”
✅ ENACTED HHS Secretary Kennedy removed health equity offices in 2025. CDC gender identity data collection halted. CDC restructuring underway.
Community impact: Without race-disaggregated health data, systemic disparities in maternal mortality (Black women die at 2.6x the rate of white women), chronic disease, and infant mortality become invisible to policy.
Ch. 15 — Dept. of Housing & Urban Development, p. 503 — Mandate for Leadership (2023)
“Eliminate Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) enforcement; end DEI/BIPOC/CRT designations in housing programs; dismantle Departmental Equity Assessment Working Group.”
✅ ENACTED Trump EO rescinded AFFH rule on Day 1. HUD equity offices eliminated. AFFH enforcement halted nationwide.
Community impact: AFFH required communities receiving HUD funds to actively dismantle residential segregation. Its elimination removes the only federal tool requiring proactive fair housing integration.
References
Center for Progressive Reform & Governing for Impact. (2026). Project 2025 executive action tracker. https://progressivereform.org/tracking-trump-2/project-2025-executive-action-tracker/
Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. (n.d.). CBCF executive order tracker: Impacts on Black America. https://www.cbcfinc.org/policy-research/cbcf-executive-order-tracker-impacts-on-black-america/
Congressional Research Service. (2025). Rescission of Executive Order 11246, "Equal Employment Opportunity": Legal implications (LSB11268). Library of Congress. https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/LSB11268
Dismantle DEI Act of 2025, S. 382, 119th Cong. (2025). https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/382/text
Eliminate DEI in Colleges Act, H.R. 1282, 119th Cong. (2025). https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1282/text
K-12 Dive. (2026, July 9). Education Department targets Equity Assistance Centers — again. https://www.k12dive.com/news/education-department-targets-equity-assistance-centers-again/824760/
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. (n.d.). Project 2025 executive action tracker. Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://www.naacpldf.org/tracking-project-2025/
Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. (2025, July 1). Rescission of Executive Order 11246 implementing regulations. Federal Register. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/07/01/2025-12276/rescission-of-executive-order-11246-implementing-regulations
Stohr, G. (2026, June 23). Over half of Project 2025 now in place, Heritage Foundation says. Bloomberg Law. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/over-half-of-project-2025-now-in-place-heritage-foundation-says
Thurgood Marshall Institute at LDF. (n.d.). What Project 2025 means for Black communities. https://tminstituteldf.org/what-project-2025-means-for-black-communities/
Turner, C. (2026, June 16). Special ed, civil rights are largely leaving Education Department. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2026/06/16/nx-s1-5717030/special-ed-civil-rights-education-department
U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs. (2026, June 9). Justice Department concludes EEOC disparate-impact guidelines violate the Constitution [Press release]. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-concludes-eeoc-disparate-impact-guidelines-violate-constitution