NEWS

The typical American family loses more than $1,200 a year to junk fees and hours spent being jerked around. It's time we did something about it. Project 2029 is putting forward big, credible ideas to solve the most pressing challenges we face — because a governing vision that delivers for Americans in 2029 can’t wait until 2029. To be sure, there’s no shortage of big challenges. Last week, we offered a sweeping proposal to guarantee child care in America – perhaps the biggest

The Annoyance Economy persists because companies profit from it and because politicians have long treated it as a second-tier issue. It doesn't have to be. For enterprising politicians making the case that government can be a force for good in ordinary life, this is a no brainer. It's popular, it's actionable and, frankly, it’s long overdue.

Imagine no more annoying robocalls. No more spam texts. No more hidden fees. No more jumping through hoops to cancel subscriptions or file an insurance claim. "I think the lesson from Project 2025," Maisel says, "is just the importance of preparation." He wants a future Democratic president to "have a bookshelf full of really bold, transformational ideas" that are ready to be deployed on their first day in office. Project 2029 is still in its early stages. They'll be releasin

The Project 2029 proposal bridges a gap between progressive and conservative ideas about how to make raising children more affordable: liberals tend to embrace government-sponsored daycare options, while conservative solutions have focused on child-care tax credits or other financial measures. Under the plan, the federal government would offer families two choices for each young child under 5: a free public daycare slot, or a stipend of $1,000 per month, meant to offset the c

Project 2029 exists to put forward big ideas that meet the biggest challenges Americans face. Few hurdles are bigger than that of balancing work and family – as costs go up and people work harder and harder just to stay afloat, precious time with their kids is getting squeezed away. And nowhere is this clearer than in the challenge of child care, where soaring costs and a lack of options leave families with young kids feeling helpless and alone. We need a new kind of politic

A group of Democrats is writing policy proposals intended to become a governing blueprint if the party wins back the White House. Democrats tried to fight back against Project 2025. But as they’ve watched many of the ideas it contained come to fruition under President Donald Trump, some of them want a blueprint for a future administration of their own. And they want it ready to go if a Democrat retakes the White House in 2028. A group of Democrats is building a governing agen

Every family should be able to choose the child care that’s right for them. When it comes to taking care of their young kids, parents today are on their own in a system that isn’t working for most. Child care is costly, rivaling or exceeding a mortgage or rent in most family budgets. For decades, public funding for child care has fallen short, leaving parents and child care providers

The typical American family loses more than $1,200 a year to junk fees and hours spent being jerked around. It's time we did something about it. Hidden fees. Hours on hold. Headaches and runarounds. These may seem like unfortunate byproducts of navigating daily life, but they're not. Companies engineer it that way, piling on fees and friction until we just give up. The hassle is the business model. We call it the Annoyance Economy, and it's costing the typical American family

The first in a long line of upcoming Project 2029 ideas For months, hundreds of policy experts have been working to shape the Project 2029 plan for the next president. Over the next year and beyond, we’ll be rolling out dozens of proposals, from housing and health care to AI and democracy — all in service of a single goal: Forging a bold agenda to address the issues that matter most to Americans. Today, we’re excited to share the first in what will be a long line of big ide

Democrats trying to lay policy groundwork for the 2028 presidential race are rolling out their first major policy proposal: a framework for online child safety. Known as “Project 2029,” the liberal group was formed as a counterweight to the conservative Project 2025 to write a policy agenda for the next Democratic presidential nominee. The group reckons starting with online internet safety — which has widespread Democratic support — will help galvanize the party to address wh

It's time to keep kids as safe online as we do on the road or at home. The typical American teen spends about five hours a day on social media and nearly one in three kids demonstrates an addictive pattern of social media use by the time they finish middle school — one researchers have linked to higher rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation. At the same time, they have grown lonelier, while reading and math scores have fallen sharply. For generations, government

Democrats need to know how to use power — and what to do with it We established Project 2029 because the big debate about what the next President will do in 2029 needs to be happening now. It’s the only way we’ll be ready to take the big swings America needs. That’s why we were heartened by New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie’s response to the preview we shared of the first set of Project 2029 ideas: Most of them, from what has been revealed, are good: worthwhile plans to

Project 2029's response to Jamelle Bouie in The New York Times on June 12, 2026: To the Editor: Re “What Would Lincoln Do?,” by Jamelle Bouie (column, June 7): Mr. Bouie is right: This moment demands more than tinkering on the margins — opposing President Trump is not enough. That is precisely what Project 2029, referred to in the column, is all about. We are bringing together hundreds of thinkers and leaders to develop a wide-ranging, hopeful vision for what comes next. That

Lifting the curtain on the first set of Project 2029 ideas For nearly a year, Project 2029 has been bringing together hundreds of America’s top policy thinkers to develop new, big ideas that can be part of the governing agenda for this country’s next bright chapter – and yesterday we gave The Bulwark a sneak peek at some of what we’re working on. As The Bulwark wrote: The Democratic policy group Project 2029 is releasing an initial set of proposals in hopes of shaping the fas

"The Democratic policy group Project 2029 is releasing an initial set of proposals in hopes of shaping the fast-approaching presidential primary campaign and guiding leaders on how they might earn back voter trust. It plans to roll out dozens of more ideas on domestic and foreign policy over the next year, all of which the group eventually intends to turn into a book that will be published as a sort of governing blueprint for Democrats...." “It’s very clear for many people wh

by Andrei Cherny One of the central beliefs underpinning of the work of Project 2029 is this: The next President needs to not only clean up the mess that Trump made, but also clean up the mess that made Trump. If they are going to do so, Democrats need bold ideas, not more of the same of what they’ve done before. Not everyone agrees. Many look at the 2024 (re)election of Donald Trump – an addled, authoritarian, fraudster, sex offender, and insurrectionist – and believe that n

by Chad Maisel—Project 2029 Executive Director Over coffee recently, I asked a fellow Democratic policy wonk a simple question: what are we “for?” She paused for an uncomfortably long moment, then pointed to the Affordable Care Act’s premium tax credits — the expiring subsidies that were at the center of last year’s government shutdown. To be sure, they matter; millions rely on them to afford coverage. But in a moment this consequential we have a problem if our primary counte

America needs an opposition. But it also needs an alternative. Resisting the disastrous policies of the Trump Administration is important – but it’s not enough. That’s why we’re lifting the curtain on Project 2029 – and asking you to join in our work. Over the past months, we’ve brought together hundreds of America’s most prominent thinkers and doers to develop a big, bold agenda for the nation’s future—one that meets the scale of today’s challenges and rekindles a sense of s

"There's a recognition from the last decade-plus that the same old playbook isn't working," Chad Maisel told Axios. "Project 2029 will put forward an agenda that is bigger and bolder than what people have been offered before." Maisel said the group will not be center-left or left-wing but will publish ideas from across the Democratic Party. Like the pro-Trump Project 2025 before it, Project 2029 plans to release dozens of policy proposals and ultimately compile them into one

“The oldest truism in politics is you can’t beat something with nothing”...[Project 2029] is assembling “the Avengers of public policy, or the Justice League, depending on your personal persuasion: the best thinkers from across the spectrum.” https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/30/us/politics/democrats-project-2029.html