House Democrats this week are launching a concerted campaign to hit back at Project 2025, a sweeping conservative effort to advance right-wing policies and expand the powers of the presidency in the event that voters return former President Trump to the White House for a second term.

The Democrats are alarmed by both the scope of Project 2025, which touches on virtually every facet of American life, and the policy changes it proposes, including the elimination of certain federal agencies, the overhauling of others and the stocking of all departments with loyalists to conservative causes.

The critics say the conservative playbook, originating from the Heritage Foundation, poses a threat to the very workings of government and democracy that have presided in Washington since the nation’s founding, demanding an orchestrated counterstrategy to ensure it never gets off the ground. They’re creating a new task force with that goal in mind. 

“Americans don’t understand just how far down the road to a dystopic, right-wing theocracy we are right now,” said Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), who is spearheading the effort. “And that, for me at least, is the priority: making sure people know it, and making sure we’re ready to confront it.”