A conservative-backed organization, citing concerns about the "deep state", plans to publicly identify and criticize career government employees they view as adversarial to Donald Trump. This initiative, known as a "blacklist", will be published online to further Trump's broader objectives, including replacing government workers with loyalists if he returns to office.

The group responsible for this list is the American Accountability Foundation (AAF), established in 2020, with a stated mission of exposing what it perceives as the left's secrets and holding President Biden accountable. Described in a 2022 New Yorker profile as a "conservative dark-money group" and a "slime machine", AAF has attracted attention for its aggressive tactics and political objectives.

'Declaring war on the deep state'

Recently, AAF has concentrated on thwarting Biden's political nominations. Now, as per a press release, AAF is shifting focus to a new initiative called "Project Sovereignty 2025."
 
Supported by a $100,000 grant from the Heritage Foundation, a prominent conservative think tank, AAF will gather information, including social media activity, on government employees they believe may hinder or undermine a potential future conservative president. They intend to release detailed profiles on these non-public-facing individuals, beginning with those at the Department of Homeland Security, to subject them to public scrutiny.

“WE ARE DECLARING WAR ON THE DEEP STATE,” AAF said in a post on X early in the week.

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Reports of the project have reportedly alarmed the civil service community, highlighting Trump and his allies' efforts to regain control of Washington DC, which they perceive as dominated by their adversaries.

The American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal employee union that supports Joe Biden, characterized Project Sovereignty 2025 as an intimidation strategy aimed at intimidating federal workers and instilling fear.

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“Civil servants are required to take an oath to the Constitution,” they wrote on X. “Not a loyalty test to a president.”

Project Sovereignty 2025 has sparked comparisons to the McCarthy-era blacklisting tactics.

Donald Moynihan, a political scientist and McCourt Chair at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy, said as quoted by The Guardian that these comparisons are apt. He suggests that AAF's initiative reflects a deep-seated hostility toward government employees perceived as disloyal to their party and ideology and a desire to penalize them.

During Trump's first administration, he and his allies openly expressed disdain for non-political government workers whom they accused of obstructing his policies, especially on immigration. These suspicions have since been woven into vague conspiracies about the "deep state"—a purported group of government officials with hidden agendas.

“Trump used to talk about ‘The Swamp’, and that rhetoric has become sharper and more negative since it’s merged with discussion about ‘the deep state’,” said Moynihan. “This is also because he views the state as a threat to him personally.”

Moynihan emphasizes the need to view Project Sovereignty 2025 within the larger framework of intimidation targeting individuals across various institutions and levels of government.
 
“Librarians, teachers, professors, public health officials, election officials, who were previously anonymous, and left to do their jobs, now have to worry about being doxxed, being accused of being disloyal and being part of the deep state,” said Moynihan. “I think that is really quite new.”

One of the main goals of Project Sovereignty 2025 is to push for the implementation of "Schedule F", which aims to reclassify tens of thousands of career civil servants as political appointees. This reclassification would enable Trump to potentially dismiss large numbers of these employees and replace them with his own supporters.

Trump signed an executive order introducing Schedule F in October 2020, which President Biden later revoked. Earlier this year, the Biden administration implemented additional measures aimed at protecting federal employees from politically motivated dismissals. Trump has pledged to reinstate Schedule F on his first day back in office, stating, "I will shatter the Deep State," in a statement last year.

At first glance, one might consider AAF to be a fringe group entrenched in "deep state" conspiracy theories. However, this perception is inaccurate. AAF is led by Tom Jones, who previously served as legislative director for Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. Jones also managed opposition research for Senator Ted Cruz's unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2016.

While it might initially seem simple to dismiss AAF as a fringe organization focused on "deep state" conspiracies, this characterization is inaccurate. AAF is led by Tom Jones, who previously served as legislative director for Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. Jones also conducted opposition research for Senator Ted Cruz's presidential campaign in 2016.
 
According to a 2022 report from the New Yorker, AAF has a history of focusing heavily on women and people of color in its targeting efforts. Out of the 29 candidates they identified, more than one-third were people of color and nearly 60% were women.

“Those sorts of lists create more intimidation,” said Moynihan as quoted by The Guardian, “More fear, and more consequences when these actors have access to power to potentially fire people, in addition to intimidating them.”

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