The director of Heritage Foundation’s controversial Project 2025 announced he would step down on Tuesday, drawing cheers from former President Donald Trump’s campaign which has worked to distance itself from the conservative initiative.
Paul Dans told colleagues on Tuesday that he is leaving the project, Politico reported, citing an “internal email to staff.”
“Friends and patriots, to everything there is a season. We completed what we set out to do, which was to create a unified conservative vision, bringing together over 110 leading organizations united behind the cause of deconstructing the administrative state,” Dans wrote in an email, according to Politico.
Democrats have used Project 2025 as a boogeyman and rallying cry against the Trump campaign.
“President Trump’s campaign has been very clear for over a year that Project 2025 had nothing to do with the campaign, did not speak for the campaign, and should not be associated with the campaign or the President in any way,” Trump campaign senior advisers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita said in a joint statement.
Still, the Heritage Foundation stressed that Project 2025 will carry on after Dans’ departure – to the apparent dismay of the Trump campaign.
“Reports of Project 2025’s demise would be greatly welcomed and should serve as notice to anyone or any group trying to misrepresent their influence with President Trump and his campaign— it will not end well for you,” Wiles and LaCivita said.