From a Heritage Shake-Up to Court Dockets: Tracing Project 2025's Ideas Through October 2026

"officials overseeing plans for some departments and agencies have started to reach out to potential hires whose names and contact information were part of that database."

""There's a lot of positions to fill and we continue to send names over, including ones from the database as they are conservative, qualified and vetted," the person, who worked on Project 2025, said."

"the group built a database of more than 10,000 candidates vetted for their MAGA credentials who would build out the administration in the event Trump won"

""The transition team of Donald Trump has not touched it, has not gone near it," he said."

"the transition rejected a push for former Trump administration official Roger Severino, who wrote Project 2025's chapter on the Department of Health and Human Services, to serve as deputy secretary of the agency"

"A three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found that immigration laws give people the right to apply for asylum at the border, and the president can't circumvent that."

"The panel concluded that the Immigration and Nationality Act doesn't authorize the president to remove the plaintiffs under "procedures of his own making," allow him to suspend plaintiffs' right to apply for asylum or curtail procedures for adjudicating their anti-torture claims."

"the now-enjoined Global Asylum final rule"

""The power by proclamation to temporarily suspend the entry of specified foreign individuals into the United States does not contain implicit authority to override the INA's mandatory process to summarily remove foreign individuals," wrote Judge J. Michelle Childs, who was nominated to the bench by Democratic President Joe Biden."

"Walker, however, agreed with the majority that the president cannot deport migrants to countries where they will be persecuted or strip them of mandatory procedures that protect against their removal."

"Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, said that previous legal action had already paused the asylum ban, and the ruling won't change much on the ground."

"was enacted on April 30, 2026, funding all of DHS except for the U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enfor"

"U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)—$74.85 billion, including:"

"The FY 2026 Budget includes $11.3B, 21,808 positions, and 21,786 full-time equivalents (FTE) for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)."

"The 2026 reconciliation bill, dubbed the Secure America Act, gives DHS until September 2029 to spend the money."

"Detention Capacity is increased by $501.0M to support 50,000 beds."

"FY 2026 FTE Adjustment - (29) - - -"

"Over half the new funds will go to ICE, which will receive nearly $39 billion for a wide range of enforcement operations, including additional hiring, facilities, and arrests."

"The Budget increases Transportation and Removal Operations with an increase of $205.0M to fund detainee domestic movement as well as increased funding for international removals for aliens with final orders of removal."

"Non-recur of FY 2025 Anomaly - - ($121,382) ($363,618) ($485,000)"

"Congress also gave CBP $26 billion to hire more personnel and conduct immigration enforcement, as well as to expand air, sea, and border surveillance."

"FY 2025 TO FY 2026 Change - 19 $4,423 $373,483 $377,906"

"The detention contract costs are projected to increase from $1.9B to $2.1B in FY 2026."

"Even if ICE and CBP evenly spread the reconciliation funds in the Secure America Act and the July 2025 reconciliation through their expiration in September 2029, the combined budgets of ICE and CBP will have more than tripled since 2021."

"The House Appropriations Committee just approved an additional $28 billion for ICE and CBP for fiscal year 2027, which starts this fall."

"Education Department outsourcing is unlawful, amended lawsuit alleges"

"Even when programming shifts under the interagency agreements, the Education Department would still be the agency responsible for these programs"

"Supreme Court Permits Trump Administration to Carry Out Reduction in Force at ED"

"Head of Project 2025 Steps Down Following Trump Criticism"

"Project 2025 shakes up leadership after criticism from Democrats and Trump, but says work goes on"

"Trump allies at Heritage declare 2024 election illegitimate in advance"

"ICE has received more than $75 billion to expand operations since President Trump returned to office"

"Since January 2025, ICE invested billions of dollars in six new initiatives without conducting necessary analysis and planning."

"and wasted millions on scaled-back and mismanaged projects, a new GAO report found"

"ICE purchased 11 warehouses to renovate for detention purposes at a reported cost of about $1.07 billion."

"Given ICE’s unprecedented multi-year detention funding and the potential for continued waste of taxpayer dollars, more timely completion may be warranted."

"A January 2025 Executive Order directed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to detain individuals apprehended for violations of immigration law to the extent permitted by law and to allocate all available resources for ICE detention purposes."

"The justices turned away former NLRB member Gwynne Wilcox's appeal of a lower court's ruling that said the Republican president's January 2025 firing of her was a valid exercise of executive authority."

"A district judge previously ordered Harper and Otsuka reinstated. An appellate stay subsequently kept both former officials away from the board."

"The justices turned down Wilcox’s petition on Oct. 19 in an unsigned order . No justices dissented. No reasons were provided."

"That ruling was reversed in a 2-1 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in December 2025, prompting Wilcox's appeal to the Supreme Court."

"But a divided federal appeals court reversed that ruling."

"The decision leaves intact a December 2025 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that the president may remove NLRB members at will."

"The court's action follows its June decision backing Trump's firing of Rebecca Slaughter, a Democratic Federal Trade Commission member."

"The decision effectively ends Wilcox’s legal effort to regain her position"

"Trump ordered Wilcox fired on Jan. 27, 2025, and notified her by email."

"That decision was subsequently overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in December 2025."

"Nor did it order Harper and Otsuka returned."

"Wilcox sued in federal district court in Washington and won a summary judgment on March 6, 2025, that said her removal was “unlawful” and that she “remains a member” of the NLRB"

"In that case, the justices ruled 6-3 in favor of Trump’s removal authority, overturning a major legal precedent dating back to 1935."

"It follows the Supreme Court’s June 29 decision in Trump v. Slaughter, which overruled the 1935 precedent, Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, and held that Congress may not restrict the president’s power to fire members of multi-member independent agencies that exercise executive power."

"On October 30, 2025, DHS published an interim final rule (IFR) that amended DHS regulations to end the practice of automatically extending the validity of employment authorization documents (Forms I-766 or EADs) for aliens who have timely filed an application to renew their EAD in certain employment authorization categories."

"DHS issued a final rule to amend regulations concerning the statutory 9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fee for H-1B and L-1 Visas"

"This Notice also restores the scope of expedited removal to the fullest extent authorized by Congress."

"With this final rule, DHS is adopting and finalizing the changes made by the IFR and not making any additional changes to the regulations."

"this designation is effective without prior notice and comment or a delayed effective date."

"advises that the interim final rule is rescinded effective immediately."

"The direct final rule removes paragraphs that required that all surface drainage from the disturbed area pass through a siltation structure before leaving the permit area."

"The direct final rule lifts the suspension of the regulatory provision and revises the Federal regulations to remove paragraphs related to establishing a rebuttable presumption of causation"

"published in the Federal Register on February 17, 2026. 91 FR 7118."

"These provisions were struck down by a reviewing court in 1985 and have no legal effect but were never removed from the Code of Federal Regulations."

"In response to the court's holding, OSMRE suspended these provisions on December 22, 1999, but did not remove the language from the Code of Federal Regulations."

"finds that prior notice and comment for this rescission is"

"for the District of Columbia remanded these provisions to OSM on July 15, 1985, because the court found OSM's rationale for these provisions flawed, and OSM later suspended them."

"paragraphs (c)(4)(i) through (c)(4)(iv) of 30 CFR 817.121 should be rescinded because they were vacated by court order in 1999"

"Douglas A. Collins, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, approved this"

"is confirming the effective date of January 27, 2026, for the direct final rule"

"The effective date of the rule published November 28, 2025, at 90 FR 54577 is confirmed as January 27, 2026."

"This action does not resolve the legal questions now before the courts; it simply restores prior regulatory text to maintain stability."

"Over 25 years ago, the provisions identified in the direct final rule were struck down on judicial review because the court found that OSM failed to provide adequate support to justify its presumption that damage was the result of mining within the angle of draw."

"Officials estimate that around 50,000 federal workers will be stripped of their civil service protections beginning in around a month, as unions, employee associations and good government groups decry their positions’ politicization."

"Trump fires one-third of federal employee appeals board"

"First developed during Trump’s first term and revived last year, Schedule F—now renamed Schedule Policy/Career—is a new job classification within the government’s excepted service for “policy-related” positions."

"It was rescinded by President Biden as soon as he took office in January 2021."

"And Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, promised an “imminent” court challenge to the rule, in coordination with other employee groups."

"Merit Systems Board Member Harris Sues Trump Over Firing (2)"

"Fully 94% of the more than 40,000 comments submitted on the proposed rule were opposed to the policy."

"Federal judge rules Trump's firing of merit board chair was illegal"

"“This new designation can be used to remove expert career federal employees who place the law and service to the public ahead of blind loyalty and replace them with political supporters who will unquestioningly do the president’s bidding.”"

"Judge orders thousands of federal workers reinstated; slams 'sham' government declaration"