Archive profile summary
Former director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office who joined Project 2025 as a senior adviser when its Presidential Personnel Database launched, bringing first-administration staffing experience into outside transition planning.
Why this entry is in the archive
A direct bridge from first-Trump-administration personnel operations into Project 2025’s personnel pillar.
White House personnel role
McEntee led the Presidential Personnel Office during the first Trump administration, giving him direct experience with political appointments and staffing.
Project 2025
Heritage announced that McEntee joined Project 2025 as a senior adviser when the Presidential Personnel Database launched in 2023.
The database was designed to recruit and organize prospective personnel before a future conservative administration took office.
Why it matters
The transition from White House personnel operations to an outside pre-election staffing system is one of the clearest examples of personnel capacity surviving between administrations.
Evidence limits
The public record does not provide a complete list of later appointees who came through the Project 2025 personnel database.
McEntee's advisory role does not establish that he selected every database participant or later appointee.
Timeline
- Project 2025 personnel database launches
Project 2025 formalizes advance recruitment and vetting through a Presidential Personnel Database; John McEntee joins as a senior adviser.
- Project 2025 adds personnel and training infrastructure
The Presidential Personnel Database and Presidential Administration Academy formalize recruitment, vetting and training before a future administration takes office.
Project 2025 · Project 2025 Presidential Personnel Database · Project 2025 Presidential Administration Academy · Troup Hemenway
Relationship records
John McEntee → Project 2025
Joined as senior adviser supporting the personnel pillar · 2023
Evidence status: documented