U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley Talks About Stop Project 2025 Task Force

As a founding member of the duty force “Stop Project 2025”activist and congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) is fighting to maintain the Heritage Foundation Project 2025 — a “devastating, terrifying glimpse into what might be possible if Donald Trump is re-elected” — from becoming a reality

Pressley spoke with BLACK ENTREPRENEURSHIP about Project 2025 and what it holds for the long run of Black America. So what’s Project 2025?

“Institutionalized Trumpism,” she said of the document, which describes what “a Trump White House, a Trump-armed Supreme Court and a Justice Department” would mean for black America. “Ultimately, it means harm to every American. It’s a far-right manifesto, policy and transition plan.”

Preventing this policy project is the first goal of the Stop Project 2025 task force. “Its goal is really to use every tool of oversight and authority that Congress has,” she said.

The task force is holding briefings, meetings, and hearings to make sure persons are aware of the transition plan outlined within the Project 2025 plan, which, amongst many troubling policies, calls for a national abortion ban, threatens to defund the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) program, and abolish the Department of Consumer Protection.

“We need to do everything we can to make sure that this doesn’t become a reality, to make sure that this manifesto doesn’t get out there,” Pressley said. “Not only does this have serious implications for the federal government and our democracy as we know it, (but) it also burdens a Supreme Court that we’ve already seen weaponized, that is in dire need of a binding code of ethics, thorough investigations into any wrongdoing, of which there has been a lot.” She suggested a critical have to expand the bench, noting that the Supreme Court has acted “in the face of an absence of justice.”

Pressley stressed the importance of voters electing Vice President Kamala Harris as the following president of the United States, highlighting the damage the election result would do to the Trump White House. She believes Harris, who has openly condemned Project 2025, will help construct a more equitable America and is not going to set Black America back.

She outlined several ways Project 2025 would impact Black Americans, citing a national abortion ban as a significant issue. A national abortion ban would mean a “nation of forced births,” which the congresswoman called a “terrifying” prospect. Such a policy would have a serious impact on Black women.

“We still have a crisis of maternal morbidity for black women, regardless of socioeconomic status or education level, that we are still three to four times more likely to die during childbirth or have complications from childbirth,” Pressley explained. Under the Trump White House, policies on contraception, contraception, in vitro fertilization and mifepristone will emerge, with additional plans to trace pregnancies.

The 2025 Project puts a gun-toting, emboldened Justice Department under Trump. Pressley pointed to the execution rate under the previous Republican president, which saw more people executed in 13 days than within the previous six a long time. “They would go on a killing spree,” she said.

Other plans include eliminating DEI (Deep Integration and Integration) and even using the term, which threatens all programs and initiatives that provide resources to underserved businesses, especially small business administrations that support and put money into Black-owned businesses; ending Title I funding for K-12 education; and cutting Social Security and Medicare advantages that African Americans receive.

The lawmaker has already fought to take motion on student debt cancellation as a lead negotiator within the House of Representatives, a move that has benefited black borrowers. While more relief is yet to come back, Pressley has framed student debt as a racial justice issue. She warned that future relief would face a barrier if the Education Department is disbanded.

Watch Pressley’s interview with TO BE and learn more in regards to the Stop Project 2025 Task Force above.