From Small Government to Strongman Politics: Unpacking The GOP’s 60 Year March Toward Authoritarianism

For decades, Republicans presented themselves as champions of small government. Ronald Reagan put it plainly in his 1981 inaugural address: “In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.”

That line became a mantra, echoed by candidates, talk radio hosts, and conservative think tanks for years afterward. The GOP’s identity was rooted in reducing the size and scope of government, cutting taxes, and letting individuals, not Washington, make choices about their lives.

But the Republican Party of 2025 is a very different creature. Increasingly, its leaders call not for shrinking government but for wielding it. They push for bans on abortion and books, restrictions on speech and protest, and regulations designed to punish critics. In recent weeks, party figures have even floated branding ideological opponents as “terrorists” and threatened federal retaliation against media outlets.

The transformation did not happen overnight

It unfolded gradually, decade by decade, as Republicans redefined what “freedom” meant and who deserved it.

Central to this shift is Project 2025, a policy and personnel roadmap crafted by conservative think tanks and MAGA-aligned actors that many of the early executive actions and appointments in 2025 echo closely. Below: the history, the turning points, and what the current era reveals.

Foundations: 1960s-1980s

The Republican Party’s modern identity began with Barry Goldwater’s 1964 presidential campaign. Goldwater opposed civil rights legislation on the grounds that it expanded federal power. His message resonated with voters who saw Washington as an intruder, and though he lost badly, his ideas reshaped the party.

Ronald Reagan built on Goldwater’s vision. His 1980 campaign promised to slash taxes, roll back regulation, and confront the Soviet Union. Under Reagan, the GOP made “small government” its brand. Yet even then, authoritarian impulses peeked through: aggressive Cold War militarism, hostility toward unions (famously breaking the air traffic controllers’ strike in 1981), and suspicion of anti-war protesters. Still, the dominant Republican message was liberty through less government.

Gingrich & the 1990s: Partisanship Grows Sharper

By the 1990s, Newt Gingrich’s “Contract with America” revived the small-government message. But Gingrich also introduced something new: scorched-earth partisanship. Democrats were no longer political opponents to be debated — they were enemies to be destroyed. Government shutdowns became bargaining chips. Bipartisanship collapsed.

This era planted the seeds of authoritarian logic. If the other party was an existential threat, then extraordinary tactics were justified. Limiting government was still the slogan, but undermining political opponents became just as important.

9/11 and the Bush Years: Security First

The 9/11 attacks changed everything. George W. Bush’s administration responded with sweeping expansions of government power:

• The PATRIOT Act allowed broad surveillance of phone calls, emails, and financial records.
• The Department of Homeland Security became the largest new federal bureaucracy in decades.
• The Iraq War was launched with claims of near-unilateral executive authority.

Republicans who once said government should stay out of people’s lives now argued that government needed more tools to keep Americans safe. Privacy and civil liberties gave way to security. “Freedom,” in this new era, was defined narrowly as protection from terrorism.

The Tea Party and Cultural Populism

The 2008 financial crisis and Barack Obama’s election triggered another Republican rebranding. The Tea Party movement swept into the spotlight, demanding lower taxes and smaller government. On the surface, it looked like a libertarian revival.

But beneath the slogans, something else was happening. Tea Party rallies were filled with warnings about immigrants “taking over,” Muslims imposing “sharia law,” and liberals undermining “real America.” The protests were as much about cultural fear as fiscal conservatism.

In practice, Republicans argued for less government regulation of business, but far more government intrusion into social and cultural life. Freedom was no longer universal — it was reserved for those who fit a particular cultural mold.

Trump’s First Term: Authoritarian Moves Become Explicit

Donald Trump’s first administration (2017-2021) marked a turning point.

Donald Trump accelerated this trajectory. He did not pretend to be a libertarian conservative. Instead, he embraced strongman politics:

• Declaring the press the “enemy of the people.”
• Repeatedly claiming elections were “rigged” — even before votes were cast.
• Using emergency declarations to bypass Congress.
• Deploying federal agents against protesters in Portland in 2020.
• Demanding loyalty from the Department of Justice and punishing critics.

Trump’s message was simple: government was bad when it taxed or regulated businesses, but good when it enforced his agenda, rewarded allies, or punished enemies. For much of the Republican base, this wasn’t a contradiction. It was exactly what they wanted.

Many institutions (law enforcement, judiciary, civil service) came under direct pressure or criticism, and the norm of peaceful transfer of power was seriously tested.

Second Term (2025-): Project 2025 and Institutional Overhaul

With Trump re-elected, many proposals from Project 2025 have become central to his administration’s early actions. This blueprint, prepared by the Heritage Foundation and many MAGA-aligned figures, was designed precisely for governing in 2025.

What Project 2025 Proposes / Is Implementing

• Personnel Control: Replace many merit-based civil servants with political loyalists. Reinstate and expand mechanisms (e.g. “Schedule F”) that make federal bureaucrats at-will and subject to political loyalty tests.
• Agency Independence Eroded: Many independent agencies (DOJ, FCC, FTC, FBI) are being brought more directly under White House control. Regulations to limit agency autonomy; reorganizations that reduce checks.
• Media, Identity & Social Policy: Protecting “traditional” gender definitions, curbing transgender recognition, removing DEI programs, redefining civil rights enforcement.
• Law Enforcement & Immigration: Stricter border measures; proposals for federal power over immigration enforcement; expanding sanctions, detention, possibly even internment or camps in extremis in the blueprint.
• Education & Discourse Control: Closing or shrinking the Department of Education’s power; shifting enforcement of civil rights in schooling away from federal oversight; control over school curricula; reducing federal funding or oversight where it conflicts with conservative ideology.

Project 2025-aligned actions that have actually been implemented since Trump took office in January 2025

These are grouped by theme and labeled with their current status where court fights or Congress are involved. Primary sources are cited wherever possible.

Civil service and executive-branch control

• Reinstated and expanded “Schedule F”-style reclassification of career staff to make thousands of policy-influencing jobs easier to hire/fire; directs OPM to unwind Biden-era protections. In effect, with ongoing litigation/agency guidance. (The White House)
• White House “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) created to centralize cuts, tech changes, and reorg work. Established by EO. (The White House)
• Broad “reduce the federal bureaucracy” directive to continue targeted downsizing and consolidations. In effect though many closures need Congress. (The White House)

DEI / employment rules

• Government-wide termination of federal DEI programs and “preferencing.” EO 14151 in effect; agencies ordered to halt DEI training, scrub materials, and identify DEI positions for elimination. Follow-on guidance active; some agencies and unions are suing. (Federal Register)
• Revoked EO 11246 equal-opportunity requirements for federal contractors and ordered a new “merit-based” regime. Issued; implementation partly paused by courts while agencies redo rules. (The White House)
• Pulled DEI out of the Foreign Service. Implemented by presidential memorandum/fact sheet; internal policy rewrites underway. (The White House)

Gender identity / social policy

• Order redefining “biological sex” across federal policy and workplaces and directing agencies to align rules and guidance accordingly. Issued; parts are being litigated. (The White House)
• Ban on transgender service in the U.S. military reinstated; reinstatement/back pay for troops discharged over COVID-19 refusal. Issued; DoD implementing; legal challenges pending. (CBS News)

Education and culture-war planks

• Begin dismantling the Department of Education by shedding staff and planning to shift functions; full abolition still requires Congress. Partially implemented by EO and reorg plans. (CBS News)
• Pressure on public broadcasters / CPB funding via FCC scrutiny and defund messaging aligned with the blueprint; funding changes ultimately require Congress. Investigations launched; outcome pending. (CBS News)

Immigration / border

• Hard-line border posture consistent with the blueprint, including using more federal muscle and revisiting humanitarian programs. Active; several steps (for example, TPS rollbacks) partly enjoined by courts while cases proceed. (CBS News)

Public health / international bodies

• Process to withdraw from the World Health Organization restarted. Announced/initiated; withdrawal timelines and funding issues still subject to statutory clocks and litigation. (CBS News)

Disaster management / FEMA

• Shift FEMA cost burdens toward states and rethink federal disaster role; created a review council and issued policy signals that reduce federal cost-share. Partially implemented by EO and guidance; facing pushback and early denials of aid. (CBS News)

Environmental and regulatory rollbacks

• Aggressive deregulatory program aligned with Project 2025 under way; Brookings’ live tracker shows major EPA and cross-agency rule changes moving or in effect. Ongoing; many items need full rulemaking and face litigation. (Brookings)

National security / Pentagon branding

• Symbolic but telling institutional rebrands reinforcing a “warrior ethos” narrative, including renaming constructs inside the NSC after the Defense→“War” rebrand. Implemented; policy impact mostly cultural/organizational. (Reuters)

What’s been blocked or limited so far

• Attempted agency shutdowns (e.g., Institute of Museum and Library Services, MBDA, FMCS) blocked by federal courts because Congress controls creation/funding of agencies. (Reuters)

Quick “what counts as implemented” rubric used

• Implemented = signed executive order/memo with active agency follow-through, or published in the Federal Register.
• Partially implemented = EO issued but requires Congress or is narrowed/paused by courts.
• Proposed/Signaled = stated intent or investigations opened, but no binding change yet.

Where to track this going forward

• Federal Register – Trump 2025 EOs index for the official text and status.
• White House “Presidential Actions” page for new executive orders, memos, and fact sheets.
• Brookings Regulatory Tracker for major deregulatory/rulemaking moves by agency.
• CBS News comparative rundown (first 100 days) mapping EOs to Project 2025 chapters; useful for spotting alignment.
• Center for Progressive Reform’s Project 2025 Executive Action Tracker for a civil-society view and spreadsheets that enumerate blueprint items and status.

Authoritarian Traits in Sharp Relief

Here’s where the current (2025) moment maps onto the earlier list of authoritarian criteria:

How Close Are We To Full Authoritarianism?

Even with these changes, several things would need to solidify before one could more confidently say the U.S. is operating under a fully fascist or authoritarian regime. Some of those are:

• Systematic suppression or disqualification of opposition via legal or extralegal means.
• Courts entirely subordinated; removal of judicial independence.
• A single party or leader becomes unchallengeable in elections, or electoral fraud becomes the norm and is accepted.
• Media becomes effectively state-controlled or subject to heavy penalties for dissent.
• Use of paramilitary or security forces overtly loyal to the executive, enforcing political loyalty.

Is The Ending Written?

Donald Trump’s second term in 2025, with many Project 2025 proposals moving from plan to policy, marks the clearest chapter yet in the GOP’s long evolution. What started as a party predicated on limiting government and maximizing liberty has morphed into one that embraces government power — when wielded to align with its cultural, ideological, and political goals.

We aren’t at the endpoint yet. But the trajectory is clear. Over the last half-century, the Republican Party has moved from libertarian conservatism to authoritarian populism:

• From Reagan’s promise to shrink government…
• To Bush’s expansion of surveillance and militarism…
• To the Tea Party’s selective liberty…
• To Trump’s open embrace of strongman rule…
• To today’s MAGA consolidation, where government is a tool of culture war and political retribution.

The question is no longer whether the GOP has abandoned its “small government” roots. It has. The real question is how far the party, and the country, will go down the path of using state power not to preserve freedom, but to enforce ideology.