What is Project 2025? (Part 11)
A Presidential Transition Project from The Heritage Foundation
What is Project 2025?
This is Part 11 in The Savvy Citizen’s new series: What is Project 2025?
If you’re new to the series, you may want to read the previous parts first, since this is a building series: Parts 1 - 10 are available here.
I also explain My Approach to the series in Part 1, so I won’t repeat it here.
We are now exploring the Project’s Section 1: Taking the Reins of Government. Note that the Project is divided into five (5) sections, which I explain in Part 3 of this series.
Project 2025: Section 1: Taking the Reins of Government
(1) White House Office Rick Dearborn
(2) Executive Office of the President of the United States Russ Vought
(3) Central Personnel Agencies: Managing the Bureaucracy Donald Devine, Dennis Dean Kirk, Paul Dans
You can read the Introduction to Section 1 in Part 8 and the first part of Section 1.1 in Part 9. Part 10 continues with Section 1.1: White House Office.
Some preliminaries …
» SIDEBAR: Section 1.1 explains the various roles and responsibilities in the White House Office, which remain relatively constant from administration to administration. The Project text doesn’t include a summary of headers in each sub-section, so I’ve put a quick outline of what this sub-section covers here.
Chief of Staff
Deputy Chiefs of Staff
Principal Deputy Chiefs of Staff
Deputy Chief of Staff for Management and Operations
Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy
Senior Advisors
Office of White House Counsel
Staff Secretary
Office of Communications
Office of Legislative Affairs (OLA)
Office of Presidential Personnel (PPO)
Office of Political Affairs (OPA)
Office of Cabinet Affairs (OCA)
Office of Public Liaison (OPL)
Office of Intergovernmental Affairs (IGA)
White House Policy Councils
Functions of the Councils
Policy Coordination
Policy Advice
Policy Implementation
Specific Policy Councils
Policy Coordinating Committee (PCC)
Deputies Committee (DC)
Principals Committee (PC)
National Security Council
National Economic Council
Domestic Policy Council
Office of the Vice President
Office of the First Lady/First Gentleman
» SIDEBAR: None of the White House Office positions require Senate confirmation. Each employee is appointed by the President and serves at the pleasure of the President, meaning that he/she can terminate their employment at any time.
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In Part 10, we covered the descriptions for the following positions:
Senior Advisors
Office of White House Counsel
Staff Secretary
Office of Communications
In this Part 11, we continue with the descriptions for the following roles:
Office of Legislative Affairs (OLA)
Office of Presidential Personnel (PPO)
Office of Political Affairs (OPA)
Office of Cabinet Affairs (OCA)
Office of Public Liaison (OPL)
Office of Intergovernmental Affairs (IGA)
Here’s the actual text:
OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS (OLA)
Created by President Dwight Eisenhower, the OLA has continued to serve as the liaison between the White House and Congress. The White House must work with congressional leaders to ensure presidential nominees, for roles such as Cabinet secretaries and ambassadors, are confirmed by the Senate. The White House also relies on Congress to enact reforms promised by the President on the campaign trail, whether those promises relate to health care, education, or national defense. Because Congress holds the power of the purse, White House staffers must ensure that there is enough support on the Hill to secure the necessary funding through the appropriations process to fulfill the President’s agenda.
The OLA reports directly to the Chief of Staff and in some Administrations has done so under the guidance of a Deputy Chief of Staff (usually the Deputy Chief for Policy). Regardless of the person to whom the OLA reports, however, the office exercises a certain autonomy on behalf of the President and the Chief of Staff in directly influencing congressional leaders of both major political parties. The OLA often must function as the mediator among the parties and find common ground to facilitate the successful enactment of the President’s agenda.
As is the case with many White House offices (but especially the Office of Communications), the OLA must ensure that congressional leaders receive one unified message. If other actors within the White House maintain their own relationships with congressional leaders and staffers, it may appear that the President’s agenda is fractured and lacks consensus. This dynamic has caused real problems for many Presidents in the past.
Internally, OLA staffers need to be involved in policy discussions, budget reviews, and other important meetings. They must also provide advice to policy staffers regarding whether certain ideas are politically feasible. Externally, OLA staffers have to communicate continuously with congressional offices of both parties in both the House and the Senate to ensure that the President has enough support to enact his legislative priorities or sustain votes.
The OLA requires staffers who are effective communicators and can provide a dose of reality to other White House staffers when necessary. Although a policy proposal from within the White House may be a great idea, OLA staffers must ensure that it is politically feasible. OLA staffers must therefore be skilled in both politics and policy. Furthermore, the President should seek out individuals who can advance his agenda and at the same time forge pathways with members of the opposing political party on other priorities.
Most important, the OLA must function as a well-oiled machine: precisely synced. The President cannot afford to have a tennis player on—much less as the leader of—his football team.
OFFICE OF PRESIDENTIAL PERSONNEL (PPO)
The political axiom that “personnel is policy” was popularized under President Ronald Reagan during the 1981 presidential transition. One of the most important offices in the White House is the PPO, which was created under President Richard Nixon to centralize political appointments. Departments and agencies had and still have direct legal authority on hiring and firing, but the power to fill Schedule C positions—the core of political jobs—is vested with the President. Therefore, the White House, not the department or agency, has the final word on political appointments.
PPO’s primary responsibility is to staff the executive branch with individuals who are equipped to implement the President’s agenda. Although its focus should be identifying and recruiting leaders to fill the approximately 1,000 appointments that require Senate confirmation, PPO must also fill approximately 3,000 political jobs that require dedicated conservatives to support the Administration’s political leadership.
Frequently, many medium-tier and top-tier jobs have been filled by policy experts tasked with accomplishing much of the work of the Administration. At the same time, appointees in the entry-level jobs have brought invaluable energy and commitment to the White House and have proved to be the “farm team” for the conservative movement.
The Office of Presidential Personnel is responsible for:
Identifying potential political personnel both actively through recruitment and passively by fielding resumes and adjudicating requests from political actors.
Vetting potential political personnel by conducting political background checks and reviewing any clearance and fitness assessments by departments and agencies.
Making recommendations to the President and to other appointment authorities on behalf of the President.
Identifying programmatic political workforce needs early and developing plans (for example, Schedule F).
Maintaining a strong relationship with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) both for operational purposes and to effectuate the President’s direct Title 5 authorities. The President is in charge of the federal workforce and exercises control principally by working through the Director of the Office of Personnel Management.
Training and connecting political personnel.
Playing “bad cop” in a way that other White House offices cannot (including serving as the office that takes direct responsibility for firings and hirings).
Serving as a personnel link between conservative organizations and the executive branch.
In most Administrations, PPO will staff more than 100 positions during a transition and thousands of noncareer positions during the President’s first term. Direct authority and a strong relationship with the President are necessary attributes for any PPO Director. Historically, PPO has had direct review and control of personnel files, including security clearance dossiers.
At the highest level, PPO is tasked with long-term, strategic workforce development. The “billets” of political appointments are of immense importance in credentialing and training future leaders. In addition, whatever one’s view of the constitutionality of various civil service rules (for example, the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 19981) might be, it is necessary to ensure that departments and agencies have robust cadres of political staff just below senior levels in the event of unexpected vacancies.
OFFICE OF POLITICAL AFFAIRS (OPA)
The OPA is the primary office within the executive branch for managing the President’s political interests. Although its specific functions vary from Administration to Administration, the OPA typically serves as the liaison between the President and associated political entities: national committees, federal and state campaigns, and interest groups. Within legal guidelines, the OPA engages in outreach, conducts casework, and—if the President is up for reelection—assists with his campaign. The OPA may also monitor congressional campaigns, arrange presidential visits with other political campaigns, and recommend campaign staff to the Office of Presidential Personnel for service in the executive branch.
The OPA further serves as a line of communication between the White House and the President’s political party. This includes both relaying the President’s ambitions to political interests and listening to the needs of political interests. This relationship allows for the exchange of information between the White House and political actors across the country. The OPA should have one director of political affairs who reports either to the Chief of Staff or to a Deputy Chief of Staff. The OPA should also include various deputy directors, each of whom is responsible for a certain geographical region of the country.
Because nearly all White House activities are in some way inherently political, the OPA needs to be aware of all presidential actions and activities—including travel, policy decisions, speeches, nominations, and responses to matters of national security—and consider how they might affect the President’s image. The OPA must therefore have a designated staffer who communicates not only with other White House offices, but also with the Cabinet and executive branch agencies.
OFFICE OF CABINET AFFAIRS (OCA)
The OCA’s role has changed to some degree over the course of various Administrations, but its overriding function remains the same: to ensure the coordination of policy and communication between the White House and the Cabinet. Most important, the OCA coordinates all Cabinet meetings with the President. It should also organize and administer regular meetings of the Deputy Secretaries because they also typically serve vital roles in the departments and agencies and, further, often become acting secretaries when Cabinet members resign.
There should be one Cabinet Secretary who reports to the Chief of Staff’s office, either directly or through a deputy chief, according to the chief’s preference and focus. The Cabinet Secretary maintains a direct relationship with all members of the Cabinet.
The OCA further consists of deputies and special assistants who work with each department’s principal, Deputy Secretary, Under Secretaries, Assistant Secretaries, and other senior staff. The OCA also connects the departments to WHO offices.
The OCA coordinates with the Chief of Staff’s office and the Office of Communications to promote the President’s agenda through the Cabinet departments and agencies. The Cabinet’s communications staffers are obviously another critical component of this operation.
In prior Administrations, the OCA has played a vital role by tracking the President’s agenda for the Chief of Staff, Deputy Chiefs, and senior advisers. It has worked with each department and agency to advance policy priorities. In the future, amplifying this function would truly benefit both the President and the conservative movement.
From time to time throughout an Administration, travel optics, ethics challenges, and Hatch Act2 issues involving Cabinet members, deputies, and senior staffers can arise. The OCA is normally tasked with keeping the WHO informed of such developments and providing support if and when necessary.
The ideal Cabinet Secretary will have exceptional organizational skills and be a seasoned political operative or attorney. Because many Cabinet officials have been former presidential candidates, governors, ambassadors, and Members of Congress, the ideal candidate should also possess the ability to interact with and persuade accomplished individuals.
OFFICE OF PUBLIC LIAISON (OPL)
The OPL is critically important in building coalitions and support for the President’s agenda across every aligned social, faith-based, minority, and economic interest group. It is a critical tool for shaping public opinion and keeping myriad supporters, as well as “frenemies” and opponents alike who are within reach, better informed.
The OPL is a notably large office. It should have one Director who reports to the Chief of Staff’s office, either directly or through a deputy, according to the chief’s preference and focus. The Director must maintain relationships not only with other WHO heads, but also with the senior staff of every Cabinet department and agency. Since a President’s agenda is always in motion, it is important for the OPL to facilitate listening sessions to receive the views of the various leaders and members of key interest groups.
The OPL should also have a sufficient number of deputies and special assistants to cover the vast number of disparate interest groups that are engaged daily. The OPL has, by far, held more meetings in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB) and within the West Wing itself than any other office within the WHO.
The OPL is the chief White House enforcer and gatekeeper among these various interest groups. It has operated best whenever the Chief of Staff has given it permission to use both the proverbial “carrot” and the proverbial “stick.” To make this work, communication with the chief’s office is vital. Additionally, the OPL has had an outsized role in presidential scheduling and both official and political travel.
The OPL Director should come from the President’s election campaign or Capitol Hill—but should not have deeply entrenched connections to a K Street entity or any other potential stakeholder. Some prior relationships can create real or perceived biases toward one group or another. The Director should be amiable, gregarious, highly organized, and willing to shoulder criticism and pushback from interest groups and other elements of the Administration.
Unlike the Director, OPL deputies and special assistants need a deep understanding of the capital, from K Street to Capitol Hill. They should have extensive experience in private industry, the labor sector, the conservative movement, and among the specific interest groups with which they will be asked to engage on behalf of the White House. OPL staffers work with more external and internal parties than any other WHO staffers. In turn, they must be effective communicators and initiative-takers. They must also be able to influence, persuade, and—most important—listen to various stakeholders and ensure that they feel heard. All OPL staffers must understand from the outset that their jobs might be modified or even phased out entirely as the Administration’s priorities change.
OFFICE OF INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS (IGA)
The IGA connects the White House to state, county, local, and tribal governments. In other words, it is the one-stop shop for disseminating an Administration’s agenda to all non–federal government entities.
The IGA should have a Director to whom one or two Deputy Directors report. The Director must ensure that the White House remains connected to all nonfederal government entities. The interests and perspectives of these entities are represented in policy discussions, organized events with the West Wing, EOP senior staff, and IGA staff throughout the departments and agencies. The IGA can be staffed in a variety of ways, but two arrangements are most common:
Each deputy and that deputy’s staffers are responsible for a type of government.
A group of staffers is responsible for a specific geographical region of the country.
The IGA, as suggested above, represents the interests and perspectives of nonfederal government entities, but its primary job is to make sure that these entities understand an Administration’s agenda and ultimately support it.
The IGA must work with all other White House offices, especially the OPA and the OPL, and manage its staff throughout the departments and agencies. IGA staffers must therefore have communication skills, understand political nuance, and be willing to engage in complex policy discussions. They should also be not just generally responsive, but also proactive in seeking out the interests and perspectives of non–federal government entities.
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To be continued …
Back next time with more of Section 1.1 and descriptions of roles in the White House Office …
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xo,
Kelley for The Savvy Citizen Team
December 23, 2024
P.S. Remember, you can always read the entire Project 2025 at Project2025.org.
H.R. 4328, Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999, Public Law No. 105- 277, 105th Congress, October 21, 1998, Division C, Title I, § 151, https://www.congress.gov/105/plaws/publ277/ PLAW-105publ277.pdf (accessed February 15, 2023).
S. 1871, An Act to Prevent Pernicious Political Activities, Public Law No. 76-252, 76th Congress, August 2, 1939, https://govtrackus.s3.amazonaws.com/legislink/pdf/stat/53/STATUTE-53-Pg1147.pdf (accessed March 7, 2023).