With federal spending talks deadlocked and parts of the government shuttered, President Donald Trump moved Thursday to formalize his embrace of Project 2025, posting on Truth Social that he would meet with Russ Vought, “he of PROJECT 2025 Fame,” to decide which “Democrat Agencies” to cut and whether those reductions would be temporary or permanent.

The announcement underscored a pivot from the caution he showed during the 2024 campaign, when aides sought to distance him from the conservative blueprint. Project 2025, developed by conservative networks including the Center for Renewing America and allied think tanks, lays out far-reaching plans to shrink the federal workforce, reorganize departments and redirect funding away from state and local jurisdictions seen as politically opposed to Republican priorities.

Administration officials framing the shutdown as leverage have signaled they view the impasse as an opportunity to implement aspects of the plan without full congressional approval. The tactic has alarmed legal scholars and state officials who say unilateral cuts or the withholding of congressionally appropriated funds would collide with the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 and likely trigger immediate litigation.

“We are at a constitutional inflection point,” said a retired federal attorney who requested anonymity to discuss possible litigation strategy. “If the executive starts picking and choosing what Congress has appropriated based on partisan ends, courts will be asked to intervene.”

Beyond constitutional questions, the maneuver carries international implications. Project 2025 contemplates dramatic changes to agencies that play central roles in diplomacy, climate policy and global health — including the State Department, Environmental Protection Agency, USAID and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Shrinking those institutions or curtailing their work could unsettle allies, complicate bilateral cooperation and diminish U.S. capacity to respond to transnational crises.

European and Asian partners have already been monitoring internal U.S. politics with concern, diplomats say, wary that abrupt policy shifts could undercut long-standing commitments on climate, pandemic preparedness and regional security. “Allies need predictability,” said a European envoy in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity. “If core agencies are diminished, it affects more than internal politics; it affects alliances and global coordination.”

Domestically, the administration’s approach threatens immediate disruption to public services and tens of thousands of federal employees. Labor groups and career officials warn that layoffs and halted programs would hit vulnerable communities disproportionately, particularly in states with large federal workforces or public-health and environmental dependencies.

Russ Vought, the former White House budget director who now leads organizations tied to Project 2025, has championed an aggressive reorientation of government. Vought did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday’s meeting announcement. Republicans in Congress who back deep spending cuts say the shutdown is a necessary reset; Democrats call it a partisan gambit that endangers public safety and economic stability.

As the standoff continues, legal scholars predict rapid court challenges and state-level pushback. For foreign partners and vulnerable domestic constituencies alike, the question is whether a short-term political strategy will produce lasting institutional change — and at what cost to American credibility and the everyday functions of government.