Author of "Project 2025" Denied Top Health Role
Anti-abortion organizations had been advocating for the appointment of former Trump administration official Roger Severino as deputy secretary of Health and Human Services.
TroibNews 
Donald Trump’s transition team has turned down a proposal to appoint a well-known Project 2025 author to a senior position at the Department of Health and Human Services due to concerns about the controversial nature of his strong anti-abortion stance.
Anti-abortion organizations had been lobbying Trump’s HHS secretary nominee, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to select Roger Severino, a recognized anti-abortion advocate, for the role of deputy secretary in the department. Severino, who previously served as the director of HHS’ Office for Civil Rights during Trump’s first term, was seen as a means to address some of the concerns these groups had regarding Kennedy's history on abortion.
However, senior officials within Trump’s team dismissed Severino’s potential appointment, pointing to the anti-abortion policies he proposed in Project 2025’s healthcare section, a strategic document from the Heritage Foundation outlining plans for a second Trump term. Six individuals with knowledge of the discussions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, noted that there was worry Severino's nomination could exacerbate fears among voters and moderate Republican lawmakers about the possibility of extensive abortion restrictions, which could detract from the broader agenda of the president-elect. Nevertheless, Trump officials remain open to other anti-abortion appointments within HHS.
The healthcare section of Project 2025 outlined several approaches to limit abortion access without relying on Congress to enact a national abortion ban. While abortion was a contentious issue during Trump’s campaign, it ultimately took a backseat to more prominent concerns about the economy and national conditions.
“Heritage was lobbying hard,” one insider remarked, but added that “the internal feeling was that [Trump campaign manager Chris] LaCivita and that crew had spent a lot of political capital trying to kill Project 2025 and they didn’t want to do this because that would be going backwards.”
This decision marks the first significant rejection of a Trump administration candidate associated with Project 2025, which Democrats utilized to criticize Trump throughout the campaign, even going so far as to produce a large printed version to use as a prop during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this summer.
Criticism has been directed at Kennedy from some Trump allies, who argue that although he has stated “every abortion is a tragedy,” he identifies as “pro-choice” and supports a “woman’s right to choose” and is not anti-abortion enough. Severino could still secure a position elsewhere within the administration, according to some insiders, and Trump has been known to reverse his advisers' choices, making Severino’s installation at HHS or another location still a possibility.
The rejection is a significant setback for the anti-abortion movement and social conservatives, who have been urging Kennedy and the Trump transition team for commitments to appoint a strong anti-abortion figure at a high-level health position and to establish a foundational set of anti-abortion policies. Severino’s dismissal highlights the delicate nature of the abortion issue, even in light of Trump’s substantial electoral triumph.
Prominent conservatives, including commentator Ben Shapiro, attorney Harmeet Dhillon, and Federalist editor-in-chief Mollie Hemingway, have actively supported Severino in their lobbying efforts.
Severino “is one of the smartest people and best tacticians I've met in DC and he's been a stalwart on the Trump agenda even under intense pressure,” Hemingway expressed on the social media platform X. “Also Trump could use a bona fide social conservative in a high level position. He'd be the right pick for that.”
Severino referred all inquiries to the Trump transition team, which has yet to respond to a request for comment. He expressed gratitude to Shapiro, Dhillon, and Hemingway for their support in a series of tweets on Thursday morning.
“There are folks in the transition team that want him, and everyone in the pro-life movement thinks he’s terrific,” stated a second source.
Severino’s rejection contrasts with a number of other confirmed or expected appointees within the Trump administration. Recently, Trump selected Brendan Carr, a contributor to Project 2025’s chapter on the Federal Communications Commission, to lead that agency, and Tom Homan, another Project 2025 contributor, as his “border czar.”
Additionally, Russ Vought, who authored the chapter on the “Executive Office of the President” in Project 2025, is considered a candidate to head the Office of Management and Budget once again.
Social conservatives are not only seeking an anti-abortion appointment but are also advocating for the reinstatement of several Trump-era abortion regulations, including the so-called Mexico City policy, which prohibited federal funding for international NGOs that provide or counsel on abortions. They also demand restrictions on federal family-planning clinics regarding abortion and a federal ban on discrimination against healthcare entities that refuse to cover abortion services or refer patients when taxpayer funds are involved.
They aim for the Trump administration to reverse the policies enacted by President Joe Biden that expanded abortion access, such as updates to HIPAA privacy rules encompassing abortions and FDA regulations permitting the mail-order and pharmacy availability of abortion pills.
Navid Kalantari for TROIB News
Anti-abortion organizations had been lobbying Trump’s HHS secretary nominee, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to select Roger Severino, a recognized anti-abortion advocate, for the role of deputy secretary in the department. Severino, who previously served as the director of HHS’ Office for Civil Rights during Trump’s first term, was seen as a means to address some of the concerns these groups had regarding Kennedy's history on abortion.
However, senior officials within Trump’s team dismissed Severino’s potential appointment, pointing to the anti-abortion policies he proposed in Project 2025’s healthcare section, a strategic document from the Heritage Foundation outlining plans for a second Trump term. Six individuals with knowledge of the discussions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, noted that there was worry Severino's nomination could exacerbate fears among voters and moderate Republican lawmakers about the possibility of extensive abortion restrictions, which could detract from the broader agenda of the president-elect. Nevertheless, Trump officials remain open to other anti-abortion appointments within HHS.
The healthcare section of Project 2025 outlined several approaches to limit abortion access without relying on Congress to enact a national abortion ban. While abortion was a contentious issue during Trump’s campaign, it ultimately took a backseat to more prominent concerns about the economy and national conditions.
“Heritage was lobbying hard,” one insider remarked, but added that “the internal feeling was that [Trump campaign manager Chris] LaCivita and that crew had spent a lot of political capital trying to kill Project 2025 and they didn’t want to do this because that would be going backwards.”
This decision marks the first significant rejection of a Trump administration candidate associated with Project 2025, which Democrats utilized to criticize Trump throughout the campaign, even going so far as to produce a large printed version to use as a prop during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this summer.
Criticism has been directed at Kennedy from some Trump allies, who argue that although he has stated “every abortion is a tragedy,” he identifies as “pro-choice” and supports a “woman’s right to choose” and is not anti-abortion enough. Severino could still secure a position elsewhere within the administration, according to some insiders, and Trump has been known to reverse his advisers' choices, making Severino’s installation at HHS or another location still a possibility.
The rejection is a significant setback for the anti-abortion movement and social conservatives, who have been urging Kennedy and the Trump transition team for commitments to appoint a strong anti-abortion figure at a high-level health position and to establish a foundational set of anti-abortion policies. Severino’s dismissal highlights the delicate nature of the abortion issue, even in light of Trump’s substantial electoral triumph.
Prominent conservatives, including commentator Ben Shapiro, attorney Harmeet Dhillon, and Federalist editor-in-chief Mollie Hemingway, have actively supported Severino in their lobbying efforts.
Severino “is one of the smartest people and best tacticians I've met in DC and he's been a stalwart on the Trump agenda even under intense pressure,” Hemingway expressed on the social media platform X. “Also Trump could use a bona fide social conservative in a high level position. He'd be the right pick for that.”
Severino referred all inquiries to the Trump transition team, which has yet to respond to a request for comment. He expressed gratitude to Shapiro, Dhillon, and Hemingway for their support in a series of tweets on Thursday morning.
“There are folks in the transition team that want him, and everyone in the pro-life movement thinks he’s terrific,” stated a second source.
Severino’s rejection contrasts with a number of other confirmed or expected appointees within the Trump administration. Recently, Trump selected Brendan Carr, a contributor to Project 2025’s chapter on the Federal Communications Commission, to lead that agency, and Tom Homan, another Project 2025 contributor, as his “border czar.”
Additionally, Russ Vought, who authored the chapter on the “Executive Office of the President” in Project 2025, is considered a candidate to head the Office of Management and Budget once again.
Social conservatives are not only seeking an anti-abortion appointment but are also advocating for the reinstatement of several Trump-era abortion regulations, including the so-called Mexico City policy, which prohibited federal funding for international NGOs that provide or counsel on abortions. They also demand restrictions on federal family-planning clinics regarding abortion and a federal ban on discrimination against healthcare entities that refuse to cover abortion services or refer patients when taxpayer funds are involved.
They aim for the Trump administration to reverse the policies enacted by President Joe Biden that expanded abortion access, such as updates to HIPAA privacy rules encompassing abortions and FDA regulations permitting the mail-order and pharmacy availability of abortion pills.
Navid Kalantari for TROIB News
