Donald Trump spent much of the campaign season running away from Project 2025. In disavowal after disavowal, he lied to the American public about his support for the deeply unpopular agenda. Now, Project 2025 is no longer a policy document from which Republicans can run away. It has served as Trump’s playbook for his first weeks in the Oval Office.
Project 2025 is no longer a policy document from which Republicans can run away.
An illegal attempt to remove independent watchdogs from across the federal government in the dead of night. The unlawful freezing of all foreign aid and domestic federal assistance in direct contradiction of the laws passed by Congress. Hostile takeovers of agencies across the federal government. A purge of experts and career civil servants from the federal workforce so they can be replaced with partisan hacks and loyalists who will carry out the president’s most nefarious whims, no questions asked.
This is a shock and awe playbook. Trump and his acolytes are flooding the zone with one outrageous plan after another in the hopes we will balk at the sheer size and scope of their efforts. But we will not relent now. This is the time for all of us who have chosen federal service to fight back. We cannot let these attacks on our democracy go unchallenged.
Immediately following Trump’s attempted purge of inspectors general, the top Democrats on every committee in the House joined together to rebuke the president’s illegal move and demand that he comply with the law. Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin and I are demanding answers from the Justice Department on the improper removal or reassignment of dozens of career officials. I joined a dozen of my colleagues outside USAID headquarters Monday to fight back against Trump and Elon Musk’s outrageous assault on the agency. I have filed bipartisan legislation to reverse the president’s attempt to politicize the civil service and replace thousands of experts with his own cronies.
But there is much more to be done. We successfully beat back many of Trump’s most extreme efforts in his first administration, from his attacks on the census to his first attempt at politicizing the federal workforce. We then brought the country together to defeat him at the ballot box. From that experience, we know that fighting back against his sweeping attacks on American democracy will require each of us to take a stand.
Democrats in Congress will demand accountability. We will use our bully pulpit to force these issues into the public consciousness, reminding the American people of the harm these actions will do to their communities, their families and their pocketbooks. We will pressure the Republican majorities in both chambers to muster what little courage they have left to stand up to this would-be dictator in the White House. And we must not be afraid to use every tool at our disposal to delay and obstruct the passage and implementation of any legislation that circumvents our laws, harms our constituents and drags us further down the path toward authoritarianism.
Likewise, entities outside the federal government have a critical role to play in this effort. The media has an absolute responsibility to hold Trump’s feet to the fire, especially if it means maintaining a focus on his most egregious acts at the expense of the next shiny object. Advocacy groups and good-government organizations must make creative use of the systems we have in place, from relentless utilization of the Freedom of Information Act to quick litigation each and every time this administration oversteps its authority.
The civil service can stand up in defense of its mission and the principles that guide it.
Finally, and perhaps most critically in this moment, the civil service can stand up in defense of its mission and the principles that guide it.
This nation asks a lot of its civil servants. They serve in war zones and behind enemy lines. They serve during pandemics and crises on the home front. They serve without favoring any politics or partisan ideology, under presidents of both parties, with loyalty only to the Constitution and the American people.
Now, in this dark and uncertain hour, this nation asks of them another crucial task: Continue to serve your country. Staff your posts. Return to work each day, even under the most challenging of circumstances, in service to the American people who rely on you. Follow the law and the Constitution, not the whims of a self-consuming narcissist. Know your rights as civil servants, know when those rights are trampled and blow the whistle to protect the public. Democrats on the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform remain prepared to hear from whistleblowers throughout the federal government. We will respect your confidentiality, protect your identity and use any identifying information you provide only to contact you about your concerns. To reduce your legal risks when disclosing information to the committee and to better protect your communications, do not contact us using work resources or while you are at work. If you witness or are subjected to any action that breaks the law, breaches the Constitution or denies you your rights as civil servants, it is time to blow the whistle. The information you hold may be critical to protecting our democratic system of government and the democratic ideals that bind us together as Americans. Keep the faith. Hold the line. Democracy will prevail.
Rep. Gerald Connolly
Congressman Gerald E. “Gerry” Connolly is serving his ninth term in the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia’s 11th District, which includes Fairfax County and the City of Fairfax in Northern Virginia. He is the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, the main investigative committee in the House. 
