Executive Office of the President: Executive Leadership
In the previous section, we examined the infrastructure behind personnel capture, including Project 2025’s Personnel Database, Presidential Administration Academy, and the recurring organizational networks that appeared throughout executive branch appointments.
The existence of a personnel pipeline does not, by itself, prove institutional capture.
Appointments matter because institutions are ultimately run by people.
Agency heads, department secretaries, commissioners, directors, and senior advisors help determine what gets prioritized, what gets enforced, what gets funded, and, in some cases, what gets ignored.
If personnel capture is the mechanism, policy outcomes are where its effects become visible.
The question is no longer who was appointed.
The question is what happened once they got there.
Before we can answer that question, we first need to determine where those appointments were concentrated.
Personnel capture is not simply about placing individuals into government. It is about placing individuals into positions capable of influencing policy, enforcement priorities, regulatory interpretation, hiring decisions, budgets, and long-term institutional direction.
The next step is examining where personnel connected to these networks appeared throughout the executive branch.
Part III: Executive Implementation Arm
Policy Capture: When Personnel Become Policy
In the previous section, we examined the infrastructure behind personnel capture, including Project 2025’s Personnel Database, Presidential Administration Academy, and the recurring organizational networks that appeared throughout executive branch appointments.
The existence of a personnel pipeline does not, by itself, prove institutional capture.
Appointments matter because institutions are ultimately run by people. Agency heads, department secretaries, commissioners, directors, and senior advisors help determine what gets prioritized, what gets enforced, what gets funded, and, in some cases, what gets ignored.
If personnel capture is the mechanism, policy outcomes are where its effects become visible.
The question is no longer who was appointed.
The question is what happened once they got there.
Before we can answer that question, we first need to determine where those appointments were concentrated.
Personnel capture is not simply about placing individuals into government. It is about placing individuals into positions capable of influencing policy, enforcement priorities, regulatory interpretation, hiring decisions, budgets, and long-term institutional direction.
The next step is examining where personnel connected to these networks appear throughout the executive branch.
Executive Implementation Arm
Executive Office of the President
- Donald Trump
- J.D. Vance
- Russell Vought
- Susie Wiles
- Stephen Miller
- Karoline Leavitt
Cabinet Departments
- Department of State — Marco Rubio
- Department of the Treasury — Scott Bessent
- Department of Defense — Pete Hegseth
- Department of Justice — Pam Bondi
- Department of the Interior — Doug Burgum
- Department of Agriculture — Brooke Rollins
- Department of Commerce — Howard Lutnick
- Department of Labor — Lori Chavez-DeRemer
- Department of Health and Human Services — Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
- Department of Housing and Urban Development — Scott Turner
- Department of Transportation — Sean Duffy
- Department of Energy — Chris Wright
- Department of Education — Linda McMahon
- Department of Veterans Affairs — Doug Collins
- Department of Homeland Security — Kristi Noem
Intelligence and National Security
- Tulsi Gabbard
- John Ratcliffe
Independent Regulatory Agencies
- Lee Zeldin
- Brendan Carr
Trade and Economic Policy
- Kelly Loeffler
- Jamieson Greer
Health Agencies
- Jay Bhattacharya
- Mehmet Oz
Executive Office of the President
President of the United States: Donald J. Trump
Documented Organizational Connections
- Principal political beneficiary of the Project 2025 initiative and its associated policy, personnel, training, and transition-planning infrastructure.
- Numerous former Trump administration officials served as Project 2025 authors, editors, contributors, coalition partners, and organizational leaders.
- Project 2025 Director Paul Dans previously served in the first Trump administration before leading the Heritage Foundation’s 2025 Presidential Transition Project.
- Multiple senior administration officials appointed during the second Trump administration were contributors to, participants in, or affiliates of organizations involved in Project 2025.
- Maintained longstanding relationships with organizations repeatedly appearing throughout this analysis, including the Heritage Foundation, America First Policy Institute (AFPI), Center for Renewing America (CRA), America First Legal (AFL), and other organizations within the broader America First policy ecosystem.
- Numerous cabinet officials, agency heads, and senior White House personnel documented throughout this section emerged from overlapping personnel, policy, advocacy, and transition networks associated with these organizations.
- The Trump-Vance transition process incorporated personnel and policy figures drawn from many of the same organizational networks documented throughout this analysis.
- Served as President during the implementation of personnel, administrative, and policy initiatives developed or advocated by individuals and organizations examined throughout this report.
Sources
- White House presidential biography.
- Trump-Vance transition records.
- Project 2025 leadership and contributor records.
- Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise contributor listings.
- Heritage Foundation Project 2025 materials.
- America First Policy Institute organizational records.
- Public records regarding cabinet appointments, executive appointments, and administrative transition planning.
Why This Position Matters
The President serves as the head of the Executive Branch and possesses constitutional authority over executive agencies, federal appointments, executive orders, regulatory priorities, budget proposals, foreign policy implementation, and administrative leadership.
Because executive agencies ultimately operate under presidential authority, the President occupies the central decision-making position within the federal government and influences the appointment of cabinet secretaries, agency administrators, commissioners, senior advisers, and numerous executive branch officials.
As a result, personnel networks, transition planning efforts, policy-development organizations, and administrative staffing initiatives become most significant when examined in relation to the presidency itself. The concentration of individuals connected to overlapping policy and personnel networks throughout executive branch leadership positions becomes clearer when viewed within the broader context of presidential appointments and executive governance.
The significance of these appointments becomes clearer when examining the policy changes, administrative directives, personnel decisions, and institutional restructuring that followed. Those actions are examined separately in the next section of this analysis.
Vice President of the United States: J.D. Vance
Documented Organizational Connections
- Vice President of the United States under President Donald J. Trump.
- Member of the broader Trump administration leadership and personnel network.
- Maintained a longstanding documented relationship with The Heritage Foundation.
- Authored the introduction to The Heritage Foundation’s 2017 Index of Culture and Opportunity and participated in Heritage Foundation policy initiatives prior to entering federal office.
- Served as keynote speaker for Heritage Foundation events and participated in Heritage Foundation policy programming.
- Authored the foreword to Dawn’s Early Light: Taking Back Washington to Save America, written by Kevin Roberts, President of The Heritage Foundation and leader of Project 2025.
- Publicly praised Kevin Roberts and described him as “somebody I rely on a lot who has very good advice, very good political instincts.”
- Maintained documented ties to Heritage Foundation leadership during the development and promotion of Project 2025.
- Publicly stated that Project 2025 contained “some good ideas” while also stating that he disagreed with portions of the document and that it was not formally connected to the Trump campaign.
- Participated in National Conservatism conferences, events, and the broader National Conservatism policy movement.
- Maintained documented ties to individuals and organizations associated with the Claremont Institute intellectual and policy network.
- Emeritus member of the advisory board of American Moment.
- Appeared on American Moment programming and participated in events associated with the organization.
- Appeared at events hosted by Turning Point USA and affiliated conservative political-organizing networks.
- Served as keynote speaker at a May 2024 event hosted by The American Conservative and the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.
- Spoke at the Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee Summit in 2023, an event sponsored by Liberty University, a Project 2025 coalition partner.
- Appeared on numerous podcasts, panels, conferences, and policy forums associated with organizations participating in the broader Project 2025 coalition and conservative policy ecosystem.
- Maintained relationships with organizations and personnel involved in policy development, leadership training, personnel recruitment, transition planning, and executive branch staffing efforts examined throughout this analysis.
Sources
- White House Vice Presidential biography.
- Heritage Foundation publications and event records.
- Index of Culture and Opportunity (2017).
- Dawn’s Early Light: Taking Back Washington to Save America.
- National Conservatism conference records.
- American Moment organizational records.
- Turning Point USA event records.
- Concerned Women for America event records.
- Liberty University event sponsorship records.
- The American Conservative event records.
- Quincy Institute event records.
- Public speeches, interviews, podcasts, and media appearances.
Why This Position Matters
The Vice President serves as the second-highest executive officer of the United States and acts as a senior adviser to the President. In modern administrations, Vice Presidents frequently participate in policy development, interagency coordination, diplomatic engagement, legislative strategy, and implementation of presidential priorities.
Project 2025’s Executive Office of the President chapter describes the Office of the Vice President as an important component of executive governance and notes that Vice Presidential staff may participate in White House policy discussions, executive decision-making processes, interagency coordination, national security deliberations, and implementation of major administration initiatives.
Because the Vice President operates within the Executive Office of the President and frequently serves as a liaison between the White House, executive agencies, Congress, and external stakeholders, leadership within the office can significantly influence policy development, administrative coordination, legislative priorities, and implementation of presidential initiatives.
The significance of these appointments becomes clearer when examining the policy changes, administrative directives, personnel decisions, and institutional restructuring that followed. Those actions are examined separately in the next section of this analysis.
Director of the Office of Management and Budget: Russell Vought
Documented Organizational Connections
- Director of the Office of Management and Budget during the first Trump administration.
- Director of the Office of Management and Budget during the second Trump administration.
- Founder of the Center for Renewing America (CRA).
- Former President of the Center for Renewing America.
- Key architect and contributor to Project 2025.
- Author of sections of Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise (Project 2025).
- Chaired the transition-planning portion of Project 2025 and participated in development of executive orders, regulations, and implementation plans intended for a future conservative administration.
- Center for Renewing America served on Project 2025’s advisory board.
- Longtime participant in the broader Heritage Foundation and conservative policy network ecosystem.
- Served as policy director of the Republican National Committee platform committee during the 2024 election cycle.
- Publicly advocated for restoring Schedule F–style personnel reforms and increasing presidential control over executive branch implementation.
- Frequently described by journalists, researchers, and commentators as one of the principal architects of Project 2025 and its executive-governance framework.
- Member of the broader Trump administration leadership and personnel network.
Sources
- Office of Management and Budget records.
- Trump White House biographies.
- Center for Renewing America organizational records.
- Project 2025 leadership and contributor records.
- Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise.
- Heritage Foundation Project 2025 materials.
- Public records regarding OMB appointments and confirmations.
- Congressional testimony and confirmation hearing records.
Why This Position Matters
The Office of Management and Budget is one of the most influential components of the Executive Office of the President. OMB oversees the federal budget process, reviews major regulations, coordinates management priorities across executive agencies, and plays a central role in implementation of presidential policy throughout the federal government.
In Project 2025, Vought described OMB as the President’s “air-traffic control system” and argued that it should be involved in all aspects of the White House policy process. He advocated for an OMB capable of exercising broad oversight of executive agencies and aligning federal administration with presidential priorities.
Because OMB reviews agency actions, budget proposals, regulatory initiatives, workforce policies, and executive branch implementation efforts, leadership within the office can significantly influence how administration priorities are translated into government action. As a result, the position occupies a uniquely important role within the Executive Office of the President and serves as a central coordination point for executive governance.
The significance of these appointments becomes clearer when examining the policy changes, administrative directives, personnel decisions, and institutional restructuring that followed. Those actions are examined separately in the next section of this analysis.
Continue Reading
In this article, we examined how personnel pipelines become executive appointments and why positions within the Executive Office of the President matter when evaluating institutional influence.
In Article Two, we continue through the Executive Office of the President and into the Cabinet, examining the documented organizational connections of additional senior officials and the roles they play in executive governance.
← Previous: Part II – Section III – From Personnel Pipelines to Government Appointments
→ Next: Article Two – Continuing the Executive Office & Cabinet Departments
Examine the Evidence
After reviewing the Executive Office of the President, what patterns stood out to you?
Did any documented organizational connections surprise you?
If you have additional publicly available documentation that strengthens or challenges this analysis, feel free to share it. This archive is intended to remain evidence-based, transparent, and open to continued research.
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