Who are the key architects of Project 2025 and where are they serving in the current administration?
Executive summary
Project 2025—an ambitious Heritage Foundation–linked blueprint to remake the executive branch—was written and compiled by a network of former Trump officials and conservative operatives, several of whom now occupy senior roles in the current administration; the most prominent example is Russell Vought, who has been confirmed to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) [1] [2] [3]. Reporting shows multiple other Project 2025 contributors have been named to key posts—Tom Homan as a White House “border czar,” John Ratcliffe to lead the CIA, and a set of policy authors placed across the administration—though the sources differ on who is formally described as an “architect” versus a contributor [4] [5] [3].
1. Russ Vought — the blueprint’s on-the-ground implementer at OMB
Russell (Russ) Vought is repeatedly identified as a lead architect and author of Project 2025 material, including a chapter on the Executive Office of the President, and he has been tapped and confirmed to return as Director of the Office of Management and Budget—a position that gives him leverage to translate the Project’s priorities into budgets, agency reviews and rule-making fights [1] [2] [3]. Coverage by Reuters, AP and multiple advocacy groups highlights Vought’s central role in drafting Project 2025’s transition “playbook” and his prior work on Schedule F—efforts that analysts say align with the Project’s goal of concentrating presidential control over the executive branch [5] [2] [6].
2. Immigration architects — Tom Homan and Stephen Miller’s footprint
Tom Homan, a named contributor to Project 2025 and a former acting ICE director, has been installed as the White House “border czar,” a role that does not require Senate confirmation and that sources say will allow him to implement immigration priorities aligned with Project 2025 [1] [4] [5]. Stephen Miller is identified in Project 2025 reporting as a major figure on immigration policy and a key architect of hardline proposals in the document, though the sources here describe him as a Project 2025 figure rather than specifying a confirmed White House title in the current administration [7] [8].
3. Intelligence and national security contributors elevated — John Ratcliffe and staff
John Ratcliffe, credited as a Project 2025 contributor in reporting, has been named to lead the CIA, and Project 2025’s intelligence chapter even cites material tied to Ratcliffe’s prior service; reporting names Ratcliffe among officials with documented ties to the Project who have been elevated into the new administration [4] [3] [9]. The Project’s intelligence chapter was reportedly written by Dustin Carmack—Ratcliffe’s former chief of staff—underscoring the connection between Project authorship and the administration’s national security appointments [5] [7].
4. Other named contributors placed in government — Brendan Carr, Monica Crowley, Pete Hoekstra, Paul Dans
A group of other Project 2025 contributors have landed administration roles: Brendan Carr is noted as a chapter author for the Project and is among Trump-era nominees placed into influential posts referenced by news reporting, Monica Crowley—a documented Project 2025 contributor—has been reported as serving as an assistant secretary of state, and Pete Hoekstra was named as ambassador to Canada; Paul Dans is described in Project materials as director of Project 2025 though reporting is less explicit about his formal White House position [4] [3] [5] [8]. Media outlets and watchdogs list many more contributors and former Trump staffers tied to Project 2025 who have been routed into the transition and administration staffing pipelines, with varying levels of official appointment or confirmation [7] [3].
5. Competing narratives and the limits of available reporting
Advocacy groups and congressional Democrats frame these appointments as a direct effort to operationalize Project 2025 and warn of sweeping changes—citing Vought’s confirmation and the Project’s policy prescriptions—while Trump-era spokespeople and some campaign messaging sought to distance the president from the Project even as his transition and administration made extensive use of its roster [10] [11] [5]. The public reporting assembled here documents named contributors who now occupy formal roles (Vought at OMB; Homan as border czar; Ratcliffe at the CIA; and others in senior posts), but where sources do not specify a formal title for a contributor, this account does not invent one; the line between “architect,” “contributor” and “administrator” is often blurred in the reporting and varies by outlet [7] [9] [6].