Former President Donald Trump's transition team is creating lists of people to exclude from a potential second Trump administration, Politico reported.
Targets reportedly include people associated with Project 2025, those who resigned in protest after Jan. 6, 2021, and others seen as disloyal.
Donald Trump Jr., who is leading the effort, recently told the The Wall Street Journal that the main goal of the transition team is preventing "bad actors" from getting into a new Trump administration.
Donald Trump Jr. said, "There's a lot of people that put the 'R' next to their name, but then they do whatever the swamp wants because they're looking for the next consulting gig or something like that. We're doing a lot with vetting. My job is to prevent those guys, more so than actually picking people."
Another person who worked on Trump's 2016 transition said keeping such lists is not unusual. "It's not uncommon in D.C. to have a naughty and nice list," the person said.
While it's not unusual for transition teams to compile such lists, some analysts believe excluding people connected to Project 2025, the controversial conservative policy blueprint sponsored by the Heritage Foundation, could create staffing challenges by severely shrinking the pool of qualified candidates.
But one member of Trump's 2016 transition team said it's possible the next potential Trump administration could change its mind after the election or inauguration, adding, "I see it as a political tactic, not as a permanent ban."
Kate McManus ✉
Kate McManus is a New Jersey-based Newsmax writer who's spent more than two decades as a journalist.
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