Trump’s Shadow Government Is Ready to Burn It All Down
Trump’s allies are planning to purge the government, crush opposition, and use the military to enforce their agenda.
Ah yes, democracy—such an outdated concept, right? If Russell Vought and his merry band of MAGA revolutionaries have their way, it’s about to be replaced with something much more… traumatizing.
In private speeches obtained by ProPublica, Vought, Trump’s former budget director and a key architect of the hard-right Project 2025, laid out his plan for a second Trump term: crush independent agencies, deploy the military against domestic opposition, strip protections from civil servants, and ensure the bureaucracy is so terrified that public servants “wake up in trauma.”
If that sounds more like a third-world autocratic coup than an American policy vision, congratulations, you’re paying attention.
“Enemies Within”—Or Just Career Government Workers?
Vought doesn’t want to reform government—he wants to gut it, purge it, and fill it with loyalists who will rubber-stamp Trump’s decrees.
His vision includes reviving Schedule F, a previously attempted move to make it easier to fire career bureaucrats, particularly experts in science, law, and economics. You know, the people who might push back when a president wants to do something blatantly illegal or ridiculous.
He also wants to defund agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency because, in the minds of MAGA ideologues, making sure corporations don’t poison your water is “Marxism.”
Deploy the Military… Against Americans
One of Vought’s biggest plans? Making sure that if protests break out (which, spoiler alert, they will), Trump has the legal means to send in the military.
He’s been crafting justifications for invoking the Insurrection Act, which would allow Trump to bypass governors and use federal troops against American citizens.
Remember when Trump wanted to send the military into U.S. cities during the George Floyd protests, and even his own generals were like, Sir, that’s a bad idea? Well, Vought’s goal is to make sure that next time, those generals can’t say no.
In a dystopian flourish, Vought even bragged about assembling a shadow Office of Legal Counsel to bypass traditional checks on executive power. Because what’s democracy without a parallel legal structure designed to rubber-stamp authoritarianism?
Christian Nationalism, But Make It Governance
Lest you think this is just about executive power, Vought also wants to reshape the country in his version of a theocratic paradise.
He rants about America becoming “too secular” and bemoans the influence of “globalists.” He’s not just pushing policies; he’s pushing a moral crusade where Trump is literally God’s chosen warrior.
The idea that Trump—a thrice-married, twice-impeached, perpetually indicted former reality TV star—is the divinely anointed leader of America would be hilarious if the people saying it didn’t have actual power. But here we are.
Make It Make Sense
Vought’s playbook isn’t about winning policy battles. It’s about ensuring the government itself becomes an extension of Trump’s will. The vision is clear: purge opposition, erode democratic checks, install loyalists, and, if all else fails, send in the troops.
For all the conservative pearl-clutching about “big government,” these guys aren’t trying to shrink it—they’re trying to turn it into an arm of Trump’s personal power. A government that doesn’t serve the people, but serves him.
And the wildest part? Trump’s own campaign has tried to distance itself from Project 2025—but the overlap is undeniable. If these people get their way, “draining the swamp” won’t mean less government—it’ll just mean an all-powerful Trump state with no resistance.
So, the question isn’t whether Trump’s second term will be different. The question is: Are we ready for what it’s actually going to be?
See ya tomorrow.
Zahead, Chaos Analyst.