 "Russell Vought, US President Donald Trump’s nominee to be director of the Office of Management and Budget, testifies during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. Reuters")
With his tortoiseshell spectacles, neatly trimmed beard and scholarly demeanour, one would believe that Russell Vought (pronounced as ‘vote’) is a man of controversy. But, that is indeed the truth as the 48-year-old is the author of Donald Trump’s scandalous Project 2025 — a wish list of far-right priorities, which includes restoring the family as the centrepiece of American life; dismantling the administrative state; defending the nation’s sovereignty and borders; and securing God-given individual rights to live freely.
And on Thursday (February 6), the US Senate confirmed Vought as Trump’s nominee for director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB). He was approved by a vote of 53-47 over strong opposition from Democrats, including Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who termed him “one of the most fringe and hard-right individuals the Senate has seen in a very long time”.
With his confirmation, Vought will return to the same position he held in Donald Trump’s first term. He also will take office at a time when there’s a nationwide uproar over an OMB order that halted trillions of dollars in federal loans, grants and other assistance.
But who exactly is Russell Vought and why has he been dubbed as the ‘most radical nominee’?
The life of Russell Vought
Today, Vought is an integral part of Trump 2.0. But that wasn’t always the case. He was brought up by his father and mother — they were an electrician and schoolteacher respectively — in Connecticut.
They inculcated a work ethic that not many would be able to contend with. He graduated from Wheaton College, earned a law degree from George Washington University, and has spent more than a decade working on budgetary issues on Capitol Hill. He describes himself as a Christian nationalist.
In 2017, with Mike Pence’s endorsement, Trump tapped Vought to be deputy director of OMB and then acting director in 2019. The following year, Trump appointed Vought as OMB director.
When Trump left office, in 2021, he founded the Centre for Renewing America, an organisation whose mission is to “renew a consensus of America as a nation under God”.
And life has now come a full circle for Vought as he returns to Trump’s second administration.
The controversies of Russell Vought
But Russell Vought isn’t a man without scandal. As Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said, “Russell Vought is not a business-as-usual nominee. He is one of the most fringe and hard-right individuals the Senate has seen in a very long time.”
But what about Vought makes his so ‘fringe’ and so ‘hard-right?’
Vought’s religious zeal has been one of the reasons that makes him so controversial. For instance, he was questioned by Senator Bernie Sanders during his 2017 Senate hearing over an article he had previously written on Muslims in which he described the religious community as “condemned” for having rejected Jesus Christ. He replied that he respected the right of every person to express their religious beliefs
He has also called for a total abolition of abortion and referred to transgender identity as a “contagion”. He has also suggested that Christian immigrants should be prioritised over those of other faiths.
Moreover, he has pushed back against diversity policies and in 2020, wrote an official memo saying that anti-racism training in the federal government was divisive and anti-American.
But that’s not all. Vought is also one of the architects of “ Project 2025 ”, a controversial collection of proposals for how Trump should reform the federal government. In a chapter, Vought writes that there is an “existential” need for the president to make aggressive use of his powers. He made the case for expanding the president’s ability to restrict congressionally appropriated funding as a tool to “roll back the woke and weaponised bureaucracy targeting the American people”. He also wants to end employment protections for thousands of career civil servants.
Vought has also promoted false claims that the 2020 election was illegitimate, including during his confirmation process. Asked in a written questionnaire by the Senate Budget Committee whether Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election, Vought responded, “I believe that the 2020 election was rigged.”
Outrage over Vought heading OMB
Trump’s decision to appoint Vought as his OMB chief has prompted outrage from the Democrats. They opposed his nomination over concerns that he would push to further freeze federal funding and cut federal government jobs.
Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said Vought was already making radical changes to government, even before he was confirmed. “Russ Vought was the puppet master behind the funding shutdown that threw this country into chaos,” she said referring to last week’s funding freeze on many federal projects.
There’s also fear among many as he avoided answering Democrats’ questions on whether he would withhold congressionally allotted aid for Ukraine.
Senator Patty Murray described Vought as “an extremist who has made clear he’ll ignore our nation’s laws, cut funding that helps people across the country & give Trump unprecedented & unconstitutional power.”
“There will be consequences,” she added.
Others also worry about Vought’s return to the OMB. Katherine Stewart, author of the forthcoming book Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy, told Mother Jones, “Vought could be one of the key figures leading us into a new and violently authoritarian future.”
But it appears that Vought is unfazed by any of this. Following his confirmation, he wrote on X, “God be praised. Grateful to the President and the US Senate. Incredibly thankful for all the many who prayed me through. Now. Let’s. Go.”
With inputs from agencies