Make Me Smart

Project 2025 and the fate of the federal workforce


Listen Later

Today we’re talking about Project 2025, the 922-page set of conservative policy proposals written as a blueprint for a second Donald Trump administration by the Heritage Foundation think tank.


E.J. Fagan, political science professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago and author of “The Thinkers: The Rise of Partisan Think Tanks and the Polarization of American Politics,” said Project 2025 is not your run-of-the-mill policy guide like the ones the Heritage Foundation has written for decades.


“When you read this document, Project 2025, it’s a much different document than previous ones. It is not just conservative policy recommendations, but options that conservatives and a new Trump administration could use to bypass American constitutional government,” said Fagan.


On the show today, Fagan explains how the Heritage Foundation became closely allied with former President Trump, how their Schedule F plan could drastically transform the vast federal workforce and what it could mean for the economy.


Then, we’ll get into what the Chase “ATM glitch” fiasco tells us about the state of financial literacy. And, some good news from the Census Bureau about household incomes.


Plus, a call for a revolt against the penny from one listener and a vocab lesson from another.


Here’s everything we talked about today:



  • “Project 2025: The myths and the facts” from Vox


  • “Trump’s second-term agenda takes aim at federal workforce, union leaders warn” from The Washington Post


  • “House Republican Agendas and Project 2025 Would Increase Poverty and Hardship, Drive Up the Uninsured Rate, and Disinvest From People, Communities, and the Economy” from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities


  • “What is Project 2025? Wish list for a Trump presidency, explained” from BBC News  


  • “David Sedaris Reads George Saunders” from The New Yorker


  • “JPMorgan Plans to Report Customers Who Exploited TikTok ‘Glitch’ to Authorities” from The Wall Street Journal


  • “The real problem with the Chase ‘ATM glitch'” from Axios 


  • “US Incomes Climbed Last Year, Census Bureau Says” from The Wall Street Journal





We want to hear your answer to the Make Me Smart question. Leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART or email us at [email protected].

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Make Me SmartBy Marketplace

  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6

4.6

5,363 ratings


More shows like Make Me Smart

View all
Science Friday by Science Friday and WNYC Studios

Science Friday

6,048 Listeners

Marketplace Tech by Marketplace

Marketplace Tech

1,276 Listeners

Marketplace Morning Report by Marketplace

Marketplace Morning Report

868 Listeners

Marketplace by Marketplace

Marketplace

8,540 Listeners

Planet Money by NPR

Planet Money

30,851 Listeners

Marketplace All-in-One by Marketplace

Marketplace All-in-One

1,353 Listeners

Freakonomics Radio by Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

Freakonomics Radio

32,174 Listeners

The Uncertain Hour by Marketplace

The Uncertain Hour

2,169 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

111,521 Listeners

Up First from NPR by NPR

Up First from NPR

56,149 Listeners

The Indicator from Planet Money by NPR

The Indicator from Planet Money

9,535 Listeners

This Is Uncomfortable by Marketplace

This Is Uncomfortable

3,520 Listeners

Short Wave by NPR

Short Wave

6,224 Listeners

Marketplace Minute by Marketplace

Marketplace Minute

163 Listeners

Million Bazillion by Marketplace

Million Bazillion

2,567 Listeners

How We Survive by Marketplace

How We Survive

1,304 Listeners

Financially Inclined by Marketplace

Financially Inclined

86 Listeners

Everybody in the Pool by Molly Wood

Everybody in the Pool

210 Listeners