ROOKE: The Dem Revenge Machine Is Already Built As GOP Walks Sleepily Into Its Crosshairs

President Donald Trump escaped the clutches of the Democratic plan to end his freedom because voters stopped the so-called investigations at the polling booth in 2024. Less than two years later, Democrats are promising to do this again, and it seems Republicans still haven’t learned their lesson.

Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker did not mince words in his March New York Times Magazine interview, calling for the Democrats to initiate “Project 2029,” a play on Republicans’ Project 2025. When asked what a Democratic “Project 2029” agenda would look like, he said it would focus on restoring the rule of law.

“I don’t think you can speak of it in shorthand, but I’ll just say a couple of things that I think are absolutely necessary. One is we’ve got to restore the rule of law, and that means holding people accountable who’ve broken the law. I’m talking about in this administration. When we get a new one, the people in this administration who’ve broken the law and federal agents who’ve broken the law need to be held accountable … criminally prosecuted, civilly prosecuted, whatever it is that we can do. Right. It may be that you can’t criminally prosecute somebody, but that you can go after them civilly,” Pritzker said.

He’s one of Trump’s most formidable opponents. @GovPritzker sat down with me to talk about a Project 2029 for Democrats, his money, Israel and the heartbreak that forged him as a political leader. Want to understand what’s coming next? Read/listen/Watch https://t.co/uKkcmNVp5b

— Lulu NYT (@LuluGNavarro) March 14, 2026

If this feels similar to Democrats’ obsession with “Democracy,” it’s because this is the same playbook. The real agenda is not to “restore the rule of law,” it’s to persecute their political enemies.

That clip, which spread rapidly after being posted on X, is not an isolated outburst. It is the public face of a structured Democratic effort already underway. Project 2029 is the left’s direct response to the conservative Project 2025. Where the latter focused on policy implementation, the former is being framed around the rapid execution of an agenda that begins with so-called accountability for the current Trump administration and its supporters. Democrats are not hiding the ball. They are building the machinery now, while Republicans in Washington appear content pretending to manage day-to-day governance. (Sign up for Mary Rooke’s weekly newsletter here!)

The pattern is clear from the last 15 years. Federal agencies under both parties have repeatedly targeted conservatives, Trump administration officials, Trump family members, and ordinary supporters through selective enforcement, surveillance, novel legal theories, financial pressure, and speech suppression.

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration report on IRS targeting, Special Counsel John Durham’s 2023 findings, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General’s work, and the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government’s final 17,000-page report created a track record of documented errors, omitted evidence, confirmation bias and disparate treatment of conservatives. Democrats now intend to expand this work in 2029.

And why wouldn’t they? No one involved in the IRS scandal against the Tea Party, the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation, or the lawfare against Trump, Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Jeffrey Clark, Mark Meadows, Peter Navarro, Steve Bannon, and others has been held accountable. Trump pardoned January 6 political prisoners, but none of the judges or prosecutors involved in the cases are currently standing trial for abusing their rights. Americans still don’t know how many federal agents were at the Capitol that day. Nor are there any answers for the multiple assassination attempts on Trump’s life, including the Butler shooting that rocked the world.

Banks closed accounts of Trump supporters like Eastman and Mike Lindell of MyPillow. Accounts for the Trump Organization were closed after January 6, with JP Morgan Chase citing “legal or regulatory risk.” Operation Choke Point, under the Obama administration, targeted industries that regulators disliked. A Biden-era variant, sometimes called Choke Point 2.0, reportedly involved Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) guidance that flagged terms like “MAGA” and “Trump” to banks. Gun shops and religious stores faced similar hurdles. President Trump’s 2025 executive order explicitly addressed these practices, but the damage to individuals and small businesses was already done. Again, no one went to jail.

Americans suffered widespread censorship policies from the White House, which pressured tech platforms to suppress certain material regarding COVID-19. The FBI flagged what would become the Hunter Biden laptop story as “potential Russian disinformation” to Facebook. Every day Americans found that their posts were throttled simply for asking questions or pointing out the obvious.

The FBI also released a memo targeting traditional Catholics as “radical” extremists. We now know that Biden’s CIA labeled women who believe traditional motherhood and homemaking are the most important responsibilities as potential extremists. The DOJ went after pro-life grandmothers for simply praying at abortion clinics. The FBI conducted an armed raid of a father’s home while his children were present.

2/ In September 2022, the FBI sent 20 armed agents to conduct an early morning raid at the home of Mark Houck, a Catholic father who does street preaching near abortion clinics.

A year earlier, Houck had gotten into a brief scuffle with a Planned Parenthood volunteer who was… pic.twitter.com/UStlT1epih

— Kristen Waggoner (@KristenWaggoner) February 5, 2026

The list seems never-ending.

These actions were not isolated. They spanned administrations but showed a consistent direction against one political side. No matter who was in charge, the machinery remained intact. Democrats openly admit they plan to continue the abuse.

Republicans hold the White House and congressional majorities. Yet the response to these attacks on Americans has been piecemeal. Executive orders have addressed some debanking and censorship issues. A few cases have been dismissed. But the deeper structures, like DOJ career staff patterns, agency guidance documents, and the absence of comprehensive safeguards against political persecution, remain. Conservatives who lived through the IRS delays, the Russia probe, the indictments, the account closures, and the content suppression know the cost.

Current midterm polling makes the warning feel more urgent. As of March, Democrats hold a consistent lead on the generic congressional ballot. Political analyst Nate Silver’s average shows Democrats leading by 5.1 points. RealClearPolitics shows Democrats up 4.7 points. Recent Emerson College polling shows Democrats leading by as much as 7 points. Morning Consult places Democrats’ lead at 3 points. Cook Political Report ratings show dozens of House seats leaning Democratic or in play. These numbers reflect voter frustration with inflation, cultural issues and the historical trend of a midterm penalty for the president’s party.

Morning Consult poll | 3/9-3/15 RV

Generic congressional ballot 2026 (weekly tracking poll)

🟦Democratic 45% (+1)
🟥Republican 42% (no change)

(Shift from last week) https://t.co/GzazUGsNPn pic.twitter.com/ohkXamJsQE

— Politics & Poll Tracker 📡 (@PollTracker2024) March 17, 2026

If this trend holds, Democrats could regain the House in November and, at the very least, strengthen their Senate position. That sets the table for 2028.

A Democratic presidential win in 2028 would install a new administration with Project 2029 documents in hand. There would be no holding back the revenge machine that the Democrats have spent the last 15 years refining. They would have subpoena power, prosecutorial discretion and regulatory leverage. Past officials, family members, campaign aides, and supporters would face renewed attacks, repeating the cycle, only with more coordination. (RELATED: Democrat Presidential Hopeful’s Quiet Plan To Become 2028 Frontrunner)

Despite appearances, Republicans are not powerless. Still, they seem intent on sleepwalking through the rest of this year, effectively handing Democrats a fully staffed, ideologically aligned bureaucracy ready to execute Project 2029.

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