Barack Obama in Project 2025: The 2025 Presidential Transition Project
On Corporations:
Fully disclose corporate advice to workers on union rules
During the Obama Administration, DOL created significant regulatory burdens for employers with respect to the advice that employers receive about union activity. As a general matter, employers who hire lawyers or other consultants to
advise employees about union issues must file disclosure forms with the department, as must the lawyers and consultants themselves.
Prior to the Obama Administration, advice provided solely to the employer required no disclosure. The Obama Administration attempted to eliminate this "advice exemption" with a directive known as the "persuader rule," which was successfully challenged
in court. In 2018, the Trump Administration formally rescinded the persuader rule. DOL should rescind the persuader rule once again should the Biden Administration revive it.
Source: Project 2025, by the Heritage Foundation, p.602
Apr 1, 2023
On Education:
Focus discipline on disparate impact and restorative justice
In 2014, the Obama Administration muddied the standard for civil rights enforcement under Title VI for student discipline cases. Before [Obama], a school would be in violation of federal law for treating black and white students differently for the same
offense (disparate treatment); under the Obama Administration schools were at risk of losing federal funding if they treated black and white students equally but had aggregate differences in the rates of school discipline by race (disparate impact).
Civil rights investigations could only end when school districts agreed to adopt lenient discipline policies, commonly known as "restorative justice." Academic studies, as well as student and teacher surveys, suggest that academics and school climate
have been harmed substantially by this push. The Trump Administration rescinded the Obama Administration's guidance on school discipline and corrected the Obama Administration's overreach in Title VI enforcement.
Source: Project 2025, by the Heritage Foundation, p.334-335
Apr 1, 2023
On Education:
Publicize colleges that claim faith-based Title IX exemption
Educational institutions can claim a religious exemption from the strictures of Title IX. In 2016, the Obama Administration published on the Department of Education's website a list of colleges that had applied for the exemption. This "list of shame" of
faith-based colleges, as it came to be known, has since been archived on ED's website, still publicly available. The President should issue an executive order removing the archived list and preventing such a list from being published in the future.
Source: Project 2025, by the Heritage Foundation, p.357
Apr 1, 2023
On Energy & Oil:
Quadrennial Energy Review for economy-wide climate policy
The Department of Energy's Office of Policy (OP) has taken various roles over different Administrations. During the Obama Administration, OP was a large office and was tasked with drafting the Quadrennial Energy Review (QER). The Trump Administration
shut down the QER & gave OP a leaner research and advisory role. Under the Biden DOE, OP appears to be focused on preparing reports on climate change and renewables.OP could be tasked with developing a National Energy Security Strategy in conjunction
with the White House National Security Strategy. Such a strategy could summarize cyber and physical threats to energy infrastructure, challenges involved in obtaining rare earth minerals to support domestic energy production and consumption, and foreign
actions that threaten U.S. energy security and dominance. However, it would be important to guard against attempts to transform the strategy into a government-led industrial policy or, in a progressive Administration, an economy-wide climate policy.
Source: Project 2025, by the Heritage Foundation, p.391-2
Apr 1, 2023
On Foreign Policy:
OpEd: Iran nuclear deal gave a crucial monetary lifeline
Unfortunately, the Obama and Biden Administrations have propped up the brutal Islamist theocracy that has hurt the Iranian people and threatened nuclear war. For example, the Obama Administration's 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, commonly
referred to as the Iran nuclear deal, gave the Islamic regime a crucial monetary lifeline after the Green Movement protests in 2009, which, while ultimately unsuccessful, did succeed in weakening the regime and showing the world that younger
Iranians want freedom.Instead of pressuring the Iranian theocracy to move toward democracy, the Obama Administration threw the brutal regime an economic lifeline by giving hundreds of billions of dollars to the Iranian government and providing other
sanctions relief. This economic relief did not moderate the regime. Former President Obama has admitted his lack of support for the Green Movement during his Administration was an error and blamed it on poor advisors.
Source: Project 2025, by the Heritage Foundation, p180-1
Apr 1, 2023
On Environment:
OpEd: expanded EPA's role beyond enviro regulation
EPA needs to be realigned away from attempts to make it an all-powerful energy and land use policymaker and returned to its congressionally sanctioned role as environmental regulator. During the Obama Administration, EPA experienced massive
growth as it was used to pursue far-reaching political goals to the point where its current activities and staffing levels far exceeded its congressional mandates and purpose.
This expansive status is entirely unnecessary: It has nothing to do with improving either the environment or public health. The EPA's initial success was driven by clear mandates, a streamlined structure, recognition of the states' prominent role,
and built-in accountability. Fulfilling the agency's mission in a manner consistent with a limited-government approach proved to be extremely effective during the agency's infancy.
Source: Project 2025, by the Heritage Foundation, p.417&420
Apr 1, 2023
Page last updated: Jul 21, 2024