Key Takeaways
- Russell Vought, OMB Director, aims to reduce federal agency power.
- Vought's worldview includes 'deep state' and Christian nationalist beliefs.
- OMB, under Vought, has been used to control federal agency funding.
- Vought drafted 'Project 2025' for immediate executive action in a second term.
- He seeks to expand presidential power, challenging constitutional interpretations.
Deep Dive
- Russell Vought, as Director of OMB, aimed to 'traumatically affect' federal workers and shrink agencies.
- His actions target weakening agencies like USAID and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
- Reporter Andy Kroll notes Vought's belief in a 'deep state' bureaucracy and a 'Marxist takeover'.
- Vought identifies as a Christian nationalist, believing the U.S. originated from Judeo-Christian principles.
- Vought is referred to as a 'shadow president' due to his influential role at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
- OMB, under Vought, became an obstacle, scrutinizing congressionally approved funds for DEI or initiatives contrary to the president's agenda.
- Agency employees spent significant time negotiating with OMB, viewing Vought as more influential than President Trump on a day-to-day basis.
- During the first Trump administration, Vought tested OMB's power over congressional funding, exploring 'impoundment' of appropriated money.
- He was central to the decision to freeze hundreds of millions in Ukraine aid, a move linked to pressure regarding investigations.
- Vought's final act in the first term was a letter to Congress defending presidential power to freeze funds and challenging a prohibitory law.
- Vought used his post-2020 'years in exile' to analyze Trump's first term and prepare for a potential second.
- His think tank developed 'Project 2025,' a blueprint including 350 drafted executive orders and regulations for immediate implementation on day one.
- Vought's writings within Project 2025 advocate for greater White House control over agencies like the Justice Department and the CFPB.
- He built a 'shadow office of management and budget' to streamline policy implementation and avoid legal obstacles.
- President Trump reportedly trusts Russell Vought due to Vought's loyalty and willingness to work behind the scenes.
- Trump viewed Vought's depiction as the 'grim reaper' for Washington D.C. during a government shutdown as a high compliment.
- Vought's strategy aimed to rapidly weaken federal agencies like the CFPB and USAID in months, a speed not achieved in the first term.
- Vought's strategy involves removing legal barriers to expedite the president's agenda, even if actions are challenged in court.
- He argues that laws restraining presidential power, such as impoundment of appropriated funds, are unconstitutional.
- Vought embraces an aggressive unitary executive theory, driven by a belief the U.S. is nearing a 'calamitous moment'.
- This pursuit of executive power aims to enact irreversible changes to the federal government's structure for decades.