Taking the Reins of Government

Greenland Acquisition - Military or Economic

Prediction markets at 38% for U.S. control of Greenland. Greenland PM: "We are not for sale and cannot simply be taken." Strategic value: 31 minerals including lithium, graphite, rare earths needed for EV batteries. 70% of rare earths currently from China. Options discussed: economic pressure, military force, direct purchase.

Panama Canal "Reclamation"

"We've already started doing it" - Trump, March 4, 2025. 40% of U.S. container shipping transits canal. Claims (disputed) of Chinese control and inflated fees. American company already given control of key ports. Prediction markets: 35% odds of U.S. takeover before 2029.

EPA Endangerment Finding Challenge

Administrator Zeldin sent memo in Feb 2025 stating endangerment finding "no longer reflected current science." Full challenge to 2009 finding that GHG emissions are harmful likely to advance. Would eliminate EPA's obligation to regulate carbon emissions.

Full Schedule Policy/Career Implementation

With final regulations in place, mass reclassification of 50,000+ federal employees as at-will workers expected. Legal challenges ongoing but administration advancing implementation. Union resistance continues.

Comstock Act Enforcement Expansion

DOJ expected to expand enforcement of 1873 Comstock Act to prohibit mailing abortion medications. Would effectively create nationwide restriction without congressional action. Legal challenges anticipated.

Education Department Further Dismantled

Congressional Republicans expected to advance formal abolition. More programs transferred to other agencies. School choice initiatives expanded. Title I oversight eliminated. Only congressional action can fully abolish.

Mass Deportation Operations Continue

622,000+ deportations in 2025 establishes baseline. Operations expected to accelerate with expanded detention capacity (65,000+ currently). Workplace raids, community sweeps continue. State/local cooperation remains key variable.

Corporation for Public Broadcasting Defunding

Elimination of federal funding for NPR, PBS expected in budget negotiations. Administration views taxpayer-funded broadcasting as promotion of liberal viewpoints.

NOAA Restructuring Advances

Breaking up NOAA and redistributing functions. Privatization of National Weather Service. Elimination of climate research programs. Defunding of "climate alarmism" science.

Nationwide "Operation Metro Surge" Expansion

Medium confidence Following Minneapolis model, similar 1,000+ agent deployments expected in other metro areas with large immigrant populations: Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, Phoenix, Miami. Pattern: target specific ethnic communities, coordinate with local media, overwhelm local resistance.

"ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) should be identified as being primarily responsible for enforcing civil immigration regulations, including the civil arrest, detention, and removal of immigration violators anywhere in the United States."

— Mandate for Leadership, Chapter 5: Department of Homeland Security (p.139)

Sanctuary City Federal Funding Cutoffs

Medium confidence Escalation of federal pressure on non-cooperative jurisdictions. Grant withholdings, law enforcement funding cuts, potential criminal referrals against local officials who refuse ICE cooperation. Cities like Denver, Chicago, NYC face billions in federal funding at risk.

"Certification by applicants that they are both registered with E-Verify and using E-Verify in a transparent and nonevasive manner."

— Mandate for Leadership, Chapter 5: Department of Homeland Security (p.142)

Detention Capacity Expansion to 100,000+

Medium confidence Current capacity ~68,990. New contracts with private prison operators (GEO Group, CoreCivic), military base conversions, and "soft-sided" tent facilities. Mandate calls for ending "catch and release" which requires massive detention expansion. Target: sustained removal operations.

"Mandate that ICE use all detention space in full compliance with Section 235 of the INA, issue weekly reports on detention capacity, and provide authority for low-level temporary capacity (for example, tents) once permanent space is full."

— Mandate for Leadership, Chapter 5: Department of Homeland Security (p.143)

Workplace Raids Intensify - Meatpacking, Agriculture, Construction

Medium confidence Following 2008 Postville model, large-scale workplace raids in industries dependent on undocumented labor. Economic disruption used as deterrent. Communities devastated. Children separated from parents at worksites. Legal residents and citizens swept up in operations.

"The use of Blackies Warrants should be operationalized within ICE. These civil search warrants are commonly used for worksite enforcement when agents have probable cause that illegal aliens are employed at a business."

— Mandate for Leadership, Chapter 5: Department of Homeland Security (p.141)

"Sensitive Locations" Policy Eliminated

High confidence ICE has already rescinded Obama-era limits on enforcement near schools, churches, hospitals. 2026 will see arrests at these locations become routine. Parents afraid to take children to school. Church-based sanctuary efforts criminalized.

DOJ "Election Integrity" Task Forces Deployed

High confidence The Mandate recommends moving election fraud prosecution from Civil Rights Division to Criminal Division, arguing current approach never "appropriately investigated and prosecuted" fraud. Expect federal prosecutors deployed to swing states, investigations announced pre-election, prosecutorial resources focused on "voter fraud" vs. voter suppression.

"Voter registration fraud and unlawful ballot correction will remain federal election offenses that are never appropriately investigated and prosecuted."

— Mandate for Leadership, Chapter 17: Department of Justice (p.563)

Voter Roll Purges in Swing States

High confidence Aggressive voter roll "maintenance" in states with Republican election officials. Following Georgia model: mass challenges to registrations, strict signature matching, reduced early voting. Citizens purged must re-register or cast provisional ballots.

ICE Operations Near Polling Places

Medium confidence With "sensitive locations" policy eliminated, ICE checkpoints and operations in immigrant-heavy precincts create de facto voter intimidation. Federal enforcement presence near polling places historically depresses Latino turnout. Courts may struggle to issue timely relief.

Mail-In Ballot Restrictions & Challenges

High confidence New restrictions on mail voting in Republican-controlled states. Shorter windows, stricter ID requirements, signature matching rejections. Following 2020 playbook: pre-position legal challenges to mail ballots, claim fraud before votes counted.

"October Surprise" - DOJ Announcements

Medium confidence Breaking DOJ norms, announcements of investigations into Democratic candidates close to election. Pattern from 2016 Comey letter. With DOJ under direct presidential control per Mandate, no institutional resistance to political timing of prosecutorial announcements.

"The department has sued multiple states regarding their efforts to enhance election integrity."

— Mandate for Leadership, Chapter 17: Department of Justice (p.545)

Election Night & Aftermath: Certification Battles

Medium confidence If results unfavorable: claims of fraud, demands for recounts, pressure on state officials to delay/refuse certification. 2020 playbook with federal DOJ now aligned with administration. State-level officials face pressure campaign. Alternative electors strategy possible.

Lame Duck Session: Codifying Executive Actions

Medium confidence If Republicans retain majorities, post-election session before new Congress is window to pass major legislation: codifying Schedule F, Education Dept abolition, immigration restrictions, NOAA breakup. If lost, rush to lock in as much as possible via executive action.

Criminalization of "Pornography"

Medium confidence The Mandate's Foreword declares "Pornography should be outlawed. The people who produce and distribute it should be imprisoned." It broadly defines the term to potentially include transgender content and librarians who provide it.

"Pornography, manifested today in the omnipresent propagation of transgender ideology and sexualization of children, for instance, is not a political Gordian knot inextricably binding up disparate claims about free speech, property rights, sexual liberation, and child welfare. It has no claim to First Amendment protection. Its purveyors are child predators and misogynistic exploiters of women. Their product is as addictive as any illicit drug and as psychologically destructive as any crime. Pornography should be outlawed. The people who produce and distribute it should be imprisoned. Educators and public librarians who purvey it should be classed as registered sex offenders. And telecommunications and technology firms that facilitate its spread should be shuttered."

— Mandate for Leadership, Foreword (p.5)

SNAP Work Requirements & Reform

Medium confidence Calls for stricter work requirements for food stamps (SNAP), eliminating "broad-based categorical eligibility," and closing the "heat-and-eat" loophole to reduce rolls.

"Re-implement work requirements. The statutory language covering food stamps allows states to waive work requirements that otherwise apply to work-capable individuals—that is, adult beneficiaries between the ages 18 and 50 who are not disabled and do not have any children or other dependents in the home."

— Mandate for Leadership, Chapter 10: Department of Agriculture (p.298)

Department of Energy Rebranding

Low confidence Proposal to rename DOE the "Department of Energy Security and Advanced Science." Focus shifts to nuclear weapon maintenance, ending "green" subsidies, and supporting fossil fuels.

"The Department of Energy should be renamed and refocused as the Department of Energy Security and Advanced Science (DESAS)."

— Mandate for Leadership, Chapter 12: Department of Energy (p.363)

End of "Housing First" Policy

Medium confidence Mandate explicitly calls to "end Housing First" (providing housing without preconditions) and instead mandate treatment/work requirements for homeless assistance.

"The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) be privatized."

— Mandate for Leadership, Chapter 5: Department of Homeland Security (p.503)

TSA Privatization

Low confidence Mandate argues TSA should be privatized, following the Canadian/European model. "The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) be privatized."

"Prioritizing border security and immigration enforcement, including detention and deportation, is critical if we are to regain control of the border, repair the historic damage done by the Biden Administration, return to a lawful and orderly immigration system, and protect the homeland from terrorism and public safety threats."

— Mandate for Leadership, Chapter 5: Department of Homeland Security (p.136)

VA MISSION Act Expansion

Medium confidence Push to fully implement and expand the MISSION Act, increasing access to private-sector care ("Community Care") and reducing reliance on VA facilities.

"USAID installed advisers on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) committees in all its Bureaus, Offices, and overseas Missions and created an agency-wide dashboard and DEI scorecard for all bureaus, offices, and missions to track staff compliance with the Administration's DEI directives."

— Mandate for Leadership, Chapter 9: Agency for International Development (p.644)

Expanded "Pornography" Criminalization

Criminal prosecution of pornography producers and distributors under obscenity laws. Broad definition potentially encompassing LGBTQ+ content and comprehensive sex education materials.

Export-Import Bank Abolition

Elimination of the Export-Import Bank as "corporate welfare." End of federal support for export financing.

Federal Reserve Reform

Restructuring of Federal Reserve to reduce independence. Consideration of returning to gold standard or alternative monetary policy. Ending of "dual mandate" focus on employment.

Medicare/Medicaid Restructuring

Fundamental reforms to Medicare and Medicaid to address "the principal drivers of our national debt." Block-granting Medicaid to states. Premium support for Medicare.

Election Crimes Prosecution Campaign

Medium confidence The Mandate recommends moving prosecution of 18 U.S.C. § 2417 (election fraud) from the Civil Rights Division to the Criminal Division, arguing that "voter registration fraud and unlawful ballot correction will remain federal election offenses that are never appropriately investigated and prosecuted" under current structure. Presidential election year would see full deployment of these prosecutorial resources.

"Voter registration fraud and unlawful ballot correction will remain federal election offenses that are never appropriately investigated and prosecuted."

— Mandate for Leadership, Chapter 17: Department of Justice (p.563)

Schedule F Statutory Codification

Medium confidence The Mandate explicitly calls for reinstating Executive Order 13957 ("Creating Schedule F in the Excepted Service") and making it permanent through legislation. By 2028, with Schedule F operational via executive action, Congress could codify these civil service reforms into statute, removing future administration's ability to reverse them.

"Identifying programmatic political workforce needs early and developing plans (for example, Schedule F)."

— Mandate for Leadership, Chapter 3: Central Personnel Agencies (p.80)

Federal Reserve Dual Mandate Elimination

Low confidence The Mandate argues that "'full employment' should be eliminated from the Federal Reserve's mandate, requiring it to focus on price stability alone." It also recommends the Fed "should not be allowed to incorporate environmental, social, and governance factors into its mandate." Legislative action would be required.

"Eliminate the 'dual mandate.' The Federal Reserve was originally created to furnish an elastic currency and rediscount commercial paper. The dual mandate may inadvertently contribute to recessions rather than fixing them."

— Mandate for Leadership, Chapter 22: Department of the Treasury (p.732)

NOAA Breakup and NWS Commercialization

Medium confidence The Mandate explicitly states NOAA "should be broken up and downsized," calling it "one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry." The National Weather Service should "focus on commercial operations." Each NOAA function "could be provided commercially, likely at lower cost and higher quality."

"Eliminate Marxist indoctrination and divisive critical race theory programs and abolish newly established diversity, equity, and inclusion offices and staff."

— Mandate for Leadership, Chapter 14: Department of Health and Human Services (p.674)

Independent Agency Presidential Control

Medium confidence The Mandate argues that "Article II of the Constitution vests all federal executive power in a President" and that independent agencies (SEC, FTC, FCC, CFPB) should be brought under direct presidential oversight via extension of Executive Order 12866 regulatory review processes.

"The modern conservative President's task is to limit, control, and direct the executive branch on behalf of the American people."

— Mandate for Leadership, Chapter 2: Executive Office of the President (p.43)

Marriage-Incentivizing Tax and Welfare Reforms

Medium confidence The Mandate calls for policies that "support the formation of stable, married, nuclear families" and reversing those that amount to "subsidizing single-motherhood, disincentivizing work, and penalizing marriage." Tax code reforms, welfare work requirements, and elimination of "marriage penalties" in federal programs.

"The next Administration should abandon this change redefining 'sex' to mean 'sexual orientation and gender identity' in Title IX immediately across all departments."

— Mandate for Leadership, Chapter 14: Department of Health and Human Services (p.451)

Bank Regulatory Agency Consolidation

Low confidence The Mandate recommends "a more streamlined bank supervision by supporting legislation to merge the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Federal Reserve's non-monetary supervisory and regulatory functions."

"President Trump's Schedule F proposal regarding accountability in hiring must be reinstituted to bring success to these reforms."

— Mandate for Leadership, Chapter 16: Department of the Interior (p.705)

Presidential Direction of DOJ Prosecution

Medium confidence The Mandate states that "the President does have control of the Department of Justice" and "authority as President, primarily through his choice of attorney general and other political appointees, to direct the prosecutorial functions of the DOJ." Fully operational presidential direction of criminal enforcement priorities.

"The department has sued multiple states regarding their efforts to enhance election integrity."

— Mandate for Leadership, Chapter 17: Department of Justice (p.545)

DNI Authority Over Intelligence Products

Medium confidence The Mandate argues that "prior DNIs were the head of the IC only on paper and were routinely accustomed to yielding IC actions and decisions to the preferences of the CIA and other agencies." It calls for DNI to exercise actual authority so that "all intelligence matters go through the DNI" per presidential direction.

"Eliminate Marxist indoctrination and divisive critical race theory programs and abolish newly established diversity, equity, and inclusion offices and staff."

— Mandate for Leadership, Chapter 4: Department of Defense (p.203)

Medicaid Block Grant Implementation

Low confidence The Mandate argues Medicaid should be reformed to address "the principal drivers of our national debt." It recommends converting Medicaid to a block grant program, giving states fixed funding with flexibility on how to spend it, reducing federal oversight and potentially federal funding levels.

"Reverse the Biden Administration's focus on 'ichael' health in favor of policies that protect life and restore the doctor-patient relationship."

— Mandate for Leadership, Chapter 14: Department of Health and Human Services (p.463)

Complete Elimination of Agency Independence

Medium confidence The Mandate argues Congress "delegated" constitutional responsibilities to "the quasi-public Federal Reserve System" and other agencies, creating an unconstitutional "Administrative State." Full implementation of the unitary executive theory: all executive functions under direct presidential control.

"Full employment should be eliminated from the Federal Reserve's mandate, requiring it to focus on price stability alone."

— Mandate for Leadership, Chapter 22: Department of the Treasury (p.729)

Post-Chevron Regulatory Landscape

High confidence With Chevron deference already eliminated (Loper Bright, 2024), courts no longer defer to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes. By 2029, judicial challenges to regulatory actions would be routine and more often successful, limiting agency authority without new legislation.

"The modern conservative President's task is to limit, control, and direct the executive branch on behalf of the American people."

— Mandate for Leadership, Chapter 2: Executive Office of the President (p.43)

FDA Mifepristone REMS Tightened

Medium confidence The Mandate calls for FDA to "immediately restore the REMS" (Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies) for mifepristone "by removing the in-person dispensing requirement to eliminate dangerous tele-abortion and abortion-by-mail distribution." By 2029, full implementation of pre-2016 restrictions on chemical abortion.

"HHS should return to its core function of protecting life, empowering patient choices, and promoting fiscally responsible health and welfare programs."

— Mandate for Leadership, Chapter 14: Department of Health and Human Services (p.458)

FBI Restructured Under Direct DOJ Control

Medium confidence The Mandate describes the FBI as "a bloated, arrogant, increasingly lawless organization" that "views itself as an independent agency." It calls for abolishing the FBI's separate Office of General Counsel ("approximately 300 attorneys"), Office of Legislative Affairs, and Office of Public Affairs. By 2029: FBI fully subordinated to AG with no independent legal, congressional, or public affairs capacity.

"The FBI views itself as an independent agency that is on par with the Attorney General, rather than as an agency that is under the AG and fully accountable to him or her."

— Mandate for Leadership, Chapter 17: Department of Justice (p.550)

2020 Election Officials Prosecuted

Medium confidence The Mandate explicitly states: "Given the Pennsylvania Secretary of State's use of guidance to circumvent state law, the Pennsylvania Secretary of State should have been (and still should be) investigated and prosecuted for potential violations of 18 U.S. Code § 241." By 2029, with election prosecutions moved from Civil Rights to Criminal Division: active prosecutions of state election officials from 2020.

"The Attorney General in the next conservative Administration should reassign responsibility for prosecuting violations of 18 U.S. Code § 2417 from the Civil Rights Division to the Criminal Division where it belongs. Otherwise, voter registration fraud and unlawful ballot correction will remain federal election offenses that are never appropriately investigated and prosecuted."

— Mandate for Leadership, Chapter 17: Department of Justice (p.562)

Comstock Act Enforcement Nationwide

Medium confidence The Mandate calls for DOJ to "announce its intent to enforce federal law against providers and distributors" of abortion pills via mail under 18 U.S.C. §§ 1461-1462 (Comstock Act). By 2029: nationwide enforcement against any entity mailing abortion medication, regardless of state law.

"Federal law prohibits mailing '[e]very article, instrument, substance, drug, medicine, or thing which is advertised or described in a manner calculated to lead another to use or apply it for producing abortion.' Following the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs, there is now no federal prohibition on the enforcement of this statute. The Department of Justice in the next conservative Administration should therefore announce its intent to enforce federal law against providers and distributors of such pills."

— Mandate for Leadership, Chapter 17: Department of Justice (p.562)

Federal Prosecution of DEI Programs

Medium confidence The Mandate directs the Civil Rights Division to "spend its first year...using the full force of federal prosecutorial resources to investigate and prosecute all state and local governments, institutions of higher education, corporations, and any other private employers who are engaged in discrimination" (i.e., DEI programs). By 2029: systematic prosecution of diversity programs as civil rights violations.

"The Civil Rights Division should spend its first year under the next Administration using the full force of federal prosecutorial resources to investigate and prosecute all state and local governments, institutions of higher education, corporations, and any other private employers who are engaged in discrimination in violation of constitutional and legal requirements."

— Mandate for Leadership, Chapter 17: Department of Justice (p.562)

"Pornography" Prosecutions Under Expanded Definition

Medium confidence The Mandate's Foreword states: "Pornography, manifested today in the omnipresent propagation of transgender ideology and sexualization of children...should be outlawed. The people who produce and distribute it should be imprisoned. Educators and public librarians who purvey it should be classed as registered sex offenders. And telecommunications and technology firms that facilitate its spread should be shuttered." By 2029: prosecutions under this expanded definition.

"Pornography, manifested today in the omnipresent propagation of transgender ideology and sexualization of children, for instance, is not a political Gordian knot inextricably binding up disparate claims about free speech, property rights, sexual liberation, and child welfare. It has no claim to First Amendment protection. Its purveyors are child predators and misogynistic exploiters of women. Their product is as addictive as any illicit drug and as psychologically destructive as any crime. Pornography should be outlawed. The people who produce and distribute it should be imprisoned. Educators and public librarians who purvey it should be classed as registered sex offenders. And telecommunications and technology firms that facilitate its spread should be shuttered."

— Mandate for Leadership, Foreword (p.5)

Denaturalization Unit Fully Operational

Medium confidence The Mandate calls for "reimplementation of the USCIS denaturalization unit—an effort to maintain integrity in the system by identifying and prosecuting criminal and civil denaturalization cases...for aliens who obtained citizenship through fraud or other illicit means." By 2029: systematic review and revocation of citizenship grants deemed fraudulent.

"Congress should restrict the authority for prosecutorial discretion to eliminate it as a 'catch-all' excuse for limiting immigration enforcement. Congress should eliminate ambiguous discretionary language in Title 8 that aliens 'may' be detained and clarify that aliens 'shall' be detained."

— Mandate for Leadership, Chapter 5: Department of Homeland Security (p.144)

DHS Dismantled and Redistributed

Low confidence The Mandate's "primary recommendation is that the President pursue legislation to dismantle the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)." Components would be redistributed: CBP and ICE to a standalone immigration agency, CISA functions to DOD/FBI, TSA privatized, Coast Guard to DOD, Secret Service to Treasury. By 2029: DHS no longer exists as unified department.

"Prioritizing border security and immigration enforcement, including detention and deportation, is critical if we are to regain control of the border, repair the historic damage done by the Biden Administration, return to a lawful and orderly immigration system, and protect the homeland from terrorism and public safety threats."

— Mandate for Leadership, Chapter 5: Department of Homeland Security (p.135)

NOAA Broken Up, Climate Research Disbanded

Medium confidence The Mandate states NOAA "has become one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry and, as such, is harmful to future U.S. prosperity...It should be broken up and downsized." The Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research should have "the preponderance of its climate-change research...disbanded." National Weather Service to be commercialized. By 2029: no federal climate research capacity.

"Eliminate Marxist indoctrination and divisive critical race theory programs and abolish newly established diversity, equity, and inclusion offices and staff."

— Mandate for Leadership, Chapter 14: Department of Health and Human Services (p.674)

Withdrawal from International Organizations

Medium confidence The Mandate states: "International organizations and agreements that erode our Constitution, rule of law, or popular sovereignty should not be reformed: They should be abandoned." It praises Trump's withdrawal from "the United Nations Human Rights Council, UNESCO, UNRWA, and the WHO." By 2029: U.S. withdrawn from WHO, UN Human Rights Council, UNESCO, and potentially other bodies.

"The Department of Defense is a deeply troubled institution. It has emphasized leftist politics over military readiness."

— Mandate for Leadership, Chapter 4: Department of Defense (p.191)

Transformed Federal Workforce

Medium confidence The Mandate states that Schedule F is needed "to bring success to these reforms" and ensure federal employees are "accountable" to the President. By 2030, the federal workforce would be fundamentally restructured around political responsiveness rather than merit-based civil service protections established by the Pendleton Act (1883).

"Identifying programmatic political workforce needs early and developing plans (for example, Schedule F)."

— Mandate for Leadership, Chapter 3: Central Personnel Agencies (p.80)

Federal Policy Centered on "Traditional Family"

Medium confidence The Mandate's Foreword states "the next conservative President must make the restoration of family…a top priority." HHS chapter calls for replacing policies that "subsidize single-motherhood" with those supporting "stable, married, nuclear families." By 2030, federal programs, tax code, and welfare would reflect this orientation.

"Pornography, manifested today in the omnipresent propagation of transgender ideology and sexualization of children, for instance, is not a political Gordian knot inextricably binding up disparate claims about free speech, property rights, sexual liberation, and child welfare. It has no claim to First Amendment protection. Its purveyors are child predators and misogynistic exploiters of women. Their product is as addictive as any illicit drug and as psychologically destructive as any crime. Pornography should be outlawed. The people who produce and distribute it should be imprisoned. Educators and public librarians who purvey it should be classed as registered sex offenders. And telecommunications and technology firms that facilitate its spread should be shuttered."

— Mandate for Leadership, Foreword (p.5)

Climate Policy Eliminated from Federal Government

Medium confidence The Mandate calls NOAA "one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry." It recommends reconsidering the 2009 EPA Endangerment Finding, withdrawing from Paris, and eliminating climate considerations from policy. By 2030: no federal climate research programs, no international climate commitments, no agency climate mandates.

"Eliminate Marxist indoctrination and divisive critical race theory programs and abolish newly established diversity, equity, and inclusion offices and staff."

— Mandate for Leadership, Chapter 14: Department of Health and Human Services (p.674)

Fundamentally Restrictionist Immigration System

Medium confidence The Mandate calls for ending "chain migration" while "focusing on the nuclear family," replacing family-based immigration with a "merit-based" system for "the best and brightest," and repealing the diversity visa lottery. By 2030: dramatically reduced legal immigration, effective elimination of asylum, sustained interior enforcement.

"ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) should be identified as being primarily responsible for enforcing civil immigration regulations, including the civil arrest, detention, and removal of immigration violators anywhere in the United States."

— Mandate for Leadership, Chapter 5: Department of Homeland Security (p.139)

The Administrative State "Dismantled"

Medium confidence The Mandate's opening page states: "It is the goal of the next conservative President to dismantle the Administrative State and return self-governance to the American people." By 2030: regulatory agencies under direct presidential control, independent commissions subordinated, major agencies downsized or eliminated.

No Federal Department of Education

Medium confidence The Mandate states the Department of Education "should be eliminated." Federal education funding would be converted to "no-strings-attached block grants" or eliminated. By 2030: no federal education department, no federal curriculum standards, minimal federal role in K-12 education.

"Federal education policy should be limited and, ultimately, the federal Department of Education should be eliminated. When power is exercised, it should empower students and families, not government."

— Mandate for Leadership, Chapter 11: Department of Education (p.319)

Post-Democratic Governance: Intellectual Foundations

Medium confidence The Mandate's vision of executive supremacy, dismantled regulatory agencies, and politicized civil service aligns with a broader intellectual current that explicitly questions democratic governance. These ideas have moved from fringe blogs to policy influence.

The "post-democracy" intellectual current

Key figures: Curtis Yarvin (writing as "Mencius Moldbug") developed "neoreaction" (NRx), arguing democracy is inherently dysfunctional and should be replaced by CEO-style governance. His ideas influenced figures now in policy circles, including reported connections to Vice President JD Vance and tech billionaire Peter Thiel.

Core thesis: Yarvin argues the U.S. is governed by an unaccountable "Cathedral" (media, academia, bureaucracy) that democracy cannot reform. The solution: concentrate power in a single executive who governs like a startup CEO, accountable to "shareholders" rather than voters.

Mandate alignment: The Mandate's call to "dismantle the Administrative State," replace merit-based civil service with political loyalty (Schedule F), and subordinate independent agencies to direct presidential control mirrors this framework—whether or not authors read Yarvin directly.

Democracy impact: Fewer checks on executive power. Reduced representation through weakened federalism, courts deferring to executive interpretation, and civil servants serving at presidential pleasure rather than public interest.

Symbolic note: The America 250 semiquincentennial branding uses a Betsy Ross–style 13‑star flag. While this references the original colonies, the recurring "13" motif—in an era of consolidated executive power—carries an ironic resonance: fewer stars meant fewer voices in governance.

Source: U.S. Department of Labor: Freedom250