Trump Appoints Heritage-Linked Officials to Legislative Affairs: A Move Toward Executive Rule?

As the 2025 Trump administration cements its hold over federal governance, the key question remains: Who is actually shaping national policy? While executive authority is vested in the President, the true drivers of federal decision-making operate behind the scenes—within the Cabinet, advisory roles, and specialized offices like the White House Office of Legislative Affairs (OLA).

A recent announcement detailing the latest appointments to the OLA highlights the consolidation of power within a network of conservative operatives, some of whom maintain direct ties to the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025—a policy blueprint aimed at radically reshaping the federal government.

This article examines these appointees, their backgrounds, and how their roles fit into a broader ideological push to centralize executive power and dismantle federal oversight.

White House Legislative Affairs: The Gatekeepers of Executive-Legislative Coordination

The White House Office of Legislative Affairs (OLA) functions as a crucial bridge between the executive branch and Congress, ensuring that the administration’s policies and legislative priorities are aggressively pursued. The latest appointees indicate an intentional alignment with right-wing policy advocacy groups, particularly those affiliated with Project 2025.

Key OLA Appointments and Their Political Backgrounds

• Jordan Cox – Special Assistant for the U.S. House of Representatives

  • Former Executive Director of Political Operations for House Republican Chief Deputy Whip Guy Reschenthaler.
  • Expected to focus on party-line enforcement in Congress.

• Andrew (Drew) Dziedzic – Special Assistant for the U.S. Senate

  • Previously Legislative Director for Sen. Eric Schmitt (MO), a staunch conservative.
  • Likely tasked with ensuring Senate approval of key executive policies.

• Taylor LaJoie – Special Assistant for the U.S. Senate

  • Former Senior Legislative Assistant to JD Vance (OH) and Legislative Director in both chambers.
  • Heritage Foundation Connection: Contributor to The Daily Signal, Heritage’s media arm​
    muckrack.com

    .

• Natalie McIntyre – Special Assistant for the U.S. Senate

  • OMB Veteran: Held a senior position in Trump’s first-term Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
  • Worked with Sen. Bill Hagerty (TN), a key player in advancing Heritage-aligned economic policies.

• Jack Rosemond – Special Assistant for the U.S. House of Representatives

  • Former Senior Advisor to Chairman Jason Smith (MO) at the House Ways and Means Committee.
  • Likely to influence tax and budgetary policies in alignment with Project 2025’s deregulation agenda.

• Stephen Siao – Special Assistant for the U.S. House of Representatives

  • Former Staff Director of the House Committee on Homeland Security.
  • Heritage Foundation Connection: Previously worked for Heritage Action for America, the lobbying arm of the Heritage Foundation​
    dc.hillsdale.edu

    .

  • Likely to champion aggressive border security policies and federal law enforcement expansion.

Power Structure: Who They Report To

The OLA team operates under Assistant to the President and White House Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair. The office is managed by Deputy Assistant to the President and OLA Director James Braid, who in turn has three deputies leading their respective portfolios:

• Jay Fields (Internal Lead)
• Jeff Freeland (House Lead)
• Pace McMullan (Senate Lead)

This hierarchy ensures tight control over legislative coordination, reinforcing a disciplined ideological framework.

Project 2025 and Its Influence Over Federal Governance

The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 is more than a policy roadmap—it is a shadow governance blueprint seeking to embed loyalists throughout the federal system​

.

Key Tenets of Project 2025 That Align With These Appointments

1. “People are Policy” Doctrine

   • Heritage emphasizes stacking government agencies with ideological loyalists, ensuring executive dominance over civil service opposition.
   • The OLA appointments align directly with this goal, placing individuals with Heritage and conservative think tank ties in critical legislative coordination roles.

2. Expanding Executive Authority

   • Project 2025 advocates reducing judicial and congressional oversight of presidential power.
   • The OLA team’s backgrounds in executive agencies and conservative legislative offices indicate a strategy to push controversial policies through with minimal resistance.

3. Dismantling Federal Bureaucracy

   • The administration seeks to replace career civil servants with political operatives, ensuring administrative compliance with the conservative agenda.
   • The OMB and Ways and Means Committee connections suggest a coordinated approach to budgetary control and regulatory rollbacks.

Predicted Outcomes: Power Consolidation in the White House

Likelihood of Key Governance Trends

Potential Conflicts and Controversies

• State vs. Federal Authority:

  • Expect legal battles over enforcement of federal mandates, particularly in immigration and education.

• Civil Service Purges:

  • The push to replace career bureaucrats with ideological loyalists will likely face whistleblower lawsuits and internal agency resistance.

• Heritage’s Growing Influence:

  • As more Project 2025-aligned figures gain government positions, expect intensified scrutiny from watchdog groups, investigative journalists, and civil rights organizations.

The Reshaping of American Governance

The appointments to the White House Office of Legislative Affairs signal a strategic shift towards consolidated executive power and ideological governance. With direct Heritage Foundation connections and a shared vision of executive dominance, these appointees are positioned to reshape federal policy in alignment with Project 2025’s authoritarian framework.

The question remains: Will this centralized power structure withstand legal and legislative challenges, or will resistance from opposition states and federal agencies slow its advance?

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Citations (MLA Format)

1. Hillsdale College. Stephen Siao Profile – Hillsdale in D.C.
   Hillsdale College, 2025, https://dc.hillsdale.edu/Profiles/Stephen-Siao/. Accessed 15 Feb. 2025.

   • Confirms Stephen Siao’s previous work at Heritage Action for America.

2. Muck Rack. Taylor LaJoie’s Profile | The Daily Signal Journalist
   Muck Rack, 2025, https://muckrack.com/taylor-lajoie. Accessed 15 Feb. 2025.

   • Confirms Taylor LaJoie’s contributions to The Daily Signal, a media outlet owned by the Heritage Foundation.

3. Milwaukee Independent. Project 2025: Understanding the Heritage Foundation’s Playbook to End American Democracy
   Milwaukee Independent, 2025, https://www.milwaukeeindependent.com/articles/project-2025-heritage-foundation/. Accessed 15 Feb. 2025.

   • Explains the goals of Project 2025, including replacing federal employees with ideological loyalists.

4. Heritage Foundation. Project 2025: Presidential Transition Project
   Heritage Foundation, 2025, https://www.heritage.org/project-2025. Accessed 15 Feb. 2025.

   • Official documentation outlining Project 2025’s policy blueprint for a conservative federal overhaul.

5. GTNM. Comprehensive Analysis of “Declaring a National Energy Emergency” Executive Order
   GTNM, 2025, https://gtnm.org/comprehensive-analysis-of-declaring-a-national-energy-emergency-executive-order/. Accessed 15 Feb. 2025.

   • Covers executive overreach trends, linking past orders to the new legislative affairs appointments.

6. GTNM. Analysis of the Executive Order: Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism
   GTNM, 2025, https://gtnm.org/analysis-of-the-executive-order-defending-women-from-gender-ideology-extremism/. Accessed 15 Feb. 2025.

   • Provides context on social policy agendas being pushed by the administration, many of which are Project 2025-backed.

7. GTNM. Analysis of the Proclamation: “Guaranteeing the States Protection Against Invasion”
   GTNM, 2025, https://gtnm.org/analysis-of-the-proclamation-guaranteeing-the-states-protection-against-invasion/. Accessed 15 Feb. 2025.

   • Analyzes the administration’s use of federal authority, which ties into the concentration of executive power in legislative affairs.

8. The Federalist Society. The Role of the Office of Legislative Affairs in the Executive Branch
   The Federalist Society, 2024, https://fedsoc.org/legislative-affairs-role-executive. Accessed 15 Feb. 2025.

   • Explains how the Office of Legislative Affairs operates, providing background on how these appointments shape policymaking.