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Welcome back to Raising Tomorrow: Democracy, Decisions & Our Children’s Future.  I’m your host, Karen Watkins — mom, former elected official, and proud advocate for public education and civic literacy.

 Now, before we dive in, take a second to look around your day.  The flight you booked. The food in your fridge. The text alert from FEMA about severe weather. 

Every single one of those connects to people — not just policies — doing the work.

And that’s what today’s episode is about. The hidden engine of government — the civil service — and how a powerful playbook called Project 2025 is working to reshape it from the inside out.

 This episode breaks down:
 1️⃣ What Project 2025 actually says about government staffing.
 2️⃣ What those proposals would change in your life.
 3️⃣ And why the phrase “personnel is policy” isn’t just political jargon — it’s the foundation of how power really works.

https://www.facebook.com/raisingtomorrowshow/

References:

1. Heritage Foundation – Project 2025 Overview (heritage.org)
2. ACLU – Project 2025 Explained (aclu.org)
3. CBS News – What Is Project 2025? (cbsnews.com)
4. Center for American Progress – FAQ About Project 2025 (americanprogress.org)
5. Democracy Forward – People’s Guide to Project 2025 (democracyforward.org)
6. U.S. Department of Education – FY 2025 Budget Summary
7. National Center for Education Statistics – Title I Funding Overview (2023)
8. Heritage Foundation – Project 2025: Mandate for Leadership (2024)
9. American Progress – “Project 2025 Would Destroy Checks and Balances” (2024)
10. Brookings Institution – “Growth of Executive Power” (2024)
11. Congressional Research Service – IF12724 & R48523 (2023–2025)
12. Reuters – “Trump Administration Must Fully Fund Food Aid Amid Shutdown” (Nov 2025)
13. CBS6 Albany – “Judge Orders SNAP Funding; Vance Calls It Absurd” (Nov 2025)
14. Bloomberg – “FAA Announces Nationwide Flight Reductions Amid Government Shutdown” (Nov 2025)
15. Reuters – “How the U.S. Is Eating Trump’s Tariffs” (Oct 2025)
16. USDA – “Trump Administration Expands Beef Imports from Argentina” (Nov 2025)
17. BBC – “Trump Meets Hungary’s Viktor Orbán Amid Power ...