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User:ElijahPepe/Russell Vought

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Russell Vought
A man wearing glasses in a gunmetal suit with a green tie staring in front of a beige background.
Vought in 2025
42nd and 44th Director of the Office of Management and Budget
Incumbent
Assumed office
February 7, 2025
PresidentDonald Trump
DeputyDan Bishop
Preceded byShalanda Young
In office
July 22, 2020 – January 20, 2021
PresidentDonald Trump
DeputyDerek Kan
Preceded byHimself
Succeeded byShalanda Young
Acting
In office
January 2, 2019 – July 22, 2020
PresidentDonald Trump
DeputyHimself
Preceded byMick Mulvaney
Succeeded byHimself
Other administration positions
2025‍–‍present
Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development
Acting
Assumed office
August 29, 2025
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byMarco Rubio (acting)
Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Acting
Assumed office
February 7, 2025
PresidentDonald Trump
DeputyZixta Martinez
Preceded byScott Bessent (acting)
Succeeded by
Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget
In office
March 14, 2018 – July 22, 2020
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byBrian Deese
Succeeded byDerek Kan
Personal details
BornRussell Thurlow Vought
(1976-03-26) March 26, 1976 (age 49)
Trumbull, Connecticut, U.S.
PartyRepublican
Spouse
Mary Vought
​
(div. 2023)​
Children2
Education

Russell Thurlow Vought (born March 26, 1976) is an American government official and political advisor who has served as the director of the Office of Management and Budget since 2025. Vought has additionally served as the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau since February 2025 and the acting administrator of the United States Agency for International Development since August 2025. He served as the Office of Management and Budget's director from 2020 to 2021 and as its acting director from 2019 to 2020, following the resignation of Mick Mulvaney. From 2018 to 2020, Vought served as the agency's deputy director.

Early life and education (1976–2004)

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Russell Thurlow Vought[1] was born on March 26, 1976,[2] in Trumbull, Connecticut.[3] Vought was the youngest of seven children[4] to Thurlow Bunyea Vought and Margaret Flowers Vought (née Smith).[5] Thurlow was a former United States Marine who worked as a union electrician,[6] while Margaret was a public school teacher who later co-founded a Christian elementary school.[7] Though Trumbull was a wealthy town, the Voughts were of modest means. He later described being brought into Christian faith at four years old by his mother; in a podcast interview, Vought stated that he was a member of a "really strong Bible-preaching, Bible-teaching church". Vought was sent to Christian summer camps and attended a private Christian school.[7]

Vought attended Wheaton College, where he majored in history and political science. A Wheaton student later described him as "bookish" and slightly "nerdy" to The Atlantic.[8] In 1997, Vought unsuccessfully ran for student body vice president, campaigning on promises of improving recycling and reforming Wheaton's conservative social codes.[7] The following year, he interned for Connecticut representative Chris Shays,[7] later interning for Indiana senator Dan Coats.[9] In 1999, Vought began working for Texas senator Phil Gramm, handling letters from Gramm's constituents. Gramm's political beliefs, particularly on deficits, influenced Vought. By 2001, Vought had started working at a B. Dalton bookstore, later taking night classes at George Washington University Law School. That year, Gramm offered Vought a promotion as legislative assistant; Vought told him that he was willing to drop out. Vought graduated from George Washington University in 2004 with a Juris Doctor.[7]

Career

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Policy work (2004–2017)

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After graduating from George Washington University, Vought worked for Texas representative Jeb Hensarling, an associate of Gramm.[7] He assisted in the Family Budget Protection Act, a proposal that would cut US$1.8 trillion in entitlement programs. By the following year, Vought had begun working for the Republican Study Committee. He helped develop Operation Offset, a deficit reduction plan for Hurricane Katrina disaster relief.[9] In December 2008, representative Mike Pence, the chairman of the House Republican Conference, named Vought as policy director.[10] Following the passage of the Affordable Care Act in March 2010, Michael Needham and Vought established Heritage Action for America.[11]

The Tea Party movement provided Vought an opportunity to direct budget policy for Republicans.[6]

Deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget (2018–2020)

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On April 7, 2017, president Donald Trump named Vought as deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget.[12] Texas senator John Cornyn held up Vought's nomination over additional funding to his state in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.[13]

Director of the Office of Management and Budget (2019–2021)

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In December 2018, Donald Trump named Mick Mulvaney, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, as his acting chief of staff to succeed John F. Kelly. Mulvaney remained in his position but delegated much of his responsibilities to Vought.[14] Vought's tenure began during the 2018–2019 United States federal government shutdown. He lead an effort to recall Internal Revenue Service employees and vowed to ease the shutdown while stating that Democrats should negotiate.[15] Vought banned official congressional travel that was not authorized by the White House Chief of Staff for the duration of the shutdown.[16] In a memorandum written in April, he moved to exert greater authority over the federal regulatory process by broadening the scope of regulations implemented by independent government agencies that are subject to the Congressional Review Act.[17] In June, Vought called for a two-year delay on the federal government's ban on Huawei.[18]

Vought's directorship was marked by "brinkmanship on the debt ceiling" and austere spending limits, according to The New York Times.[19] He advocated for a proposal, later rejected by Trump, that would have cut US$4 billion in foreign aid funding from the Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development.[20] In the impeachment inquiry into Trump, congressional investigators requested that Vought appear before House committees investigating the president to discuss the Office of Management and Budget's decision to cut security aid to Ukraine.[21] Vought rebuffed the request, arguing that the inquiry—citing a letter written by Pat Cipollone, the White House counsel—was unconstitutional, and the office refused to provide records to investigators; a federal judge later ruled that the investigation was legal.[22] The Trump administration ordered Vought not to testify, and Democrats later indicated that they would not force officials to comply with subpoenas with lawsuits.[23] Vought appeared before the House Committee on the Budget in February 2020.[24]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Vought requested emergency funding from Congress for monitoring.[25] In March 2020, Trump ousted Mulvaney; Vought, who was named as Mulvaney's successor, had lobbied for the position for months, according to The New York Times.[26] Kyle McGowan, a former chief of staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recalled to the Times that he and Robert R. Redfield, the agency's director, had argued with Vought over social distancing guidelines for restaurants, where Vought described restrictions as unfeasible.[27] Amid the George Floyd protests, Trump directed Vought to cut federal funding from Democratic-led cities.[28] Days later, Vought issued a memorandum canceling contracts for sensitivity training.[29]

Post-directorship (2021–2024)

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In December 2020, Trump named Vought to the United States Naval Academy's board of visitors. The Biden administration requested that he resign in September 2021; Vought declined, arguing that he had been appointed to a three-year term on Twitter.[30] A week after the inauguration of Joe Biden, Vought established the Center for Renewing America, a policy research organization, and Citizens for Renewing America, an advocacy organization.[31] By May, the Center for Renewing America had eight paid staffers, including Vought,[31] and by the following month, Vought had become affiliated with America First Legal.[32] He oriented the Center for Renewing America's efforts towards countering critical race theory in schools, attempting to advance state legislation[33] and working with North Carolina representative Dan Bishop to codify Trump's executive order barring federal contractors from conducting racial sensitivity trainings.[34]

Vought was influential in the Republican budget proposal for the 2023 federal budget. His proposal called for a US$22 billion cut to the Department of Health and Human Services and a US$26 billion cut to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, including gradual reductions in Section 8 grants.[35] During the 2023 debt-ceiling crisis, Vought advised Republicans on their strategy towards the debt ceiling.[36] He opposed California representative Kevin McCarthy's speakership.

Concurrently, Vought was involved in an effort to re-enact Schedule F appointments and fire many of the workers in the federal civil service.[37]

Director of the Office of Management and Budget (2025–present)

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Acting positions

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On February 7, 2025, Vought was named as the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Political positions

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Domestic issues

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On his blog—which has been occasionally shared on the broader conservative website RedState—Vought criticized Republicans in the presidency of Barack Obama for not seeking larger spending cuts.[11] In a private Google Group with Republican operatives known as "The Repeal Coalition", he sharply criticized speaker of the House John Boehner over an internal plan to address the Affordable Care Act that would replicate sections of the act, estimating that it would be ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.[38] Vought frequently derided Republicans for failing to block Barack Obama's policy initiatives.[7]

Vought supported a plan to revoke California's legal authority to set tailpipe pollution regulations stricter than the federal government's rules.[39] He praised Donald Trump for being the first president to attend a March for Life rally, referring to it as a "golden chapter for our movement".[40]

A joint statement by Vought and Ken Cuccinelli, the former acting deputy secretary of homeland security, criticized Texas governor Greg Abbott for implementing a catch and release immigration policy without formally declaring an invasion that would purportedly allow Abbott to deport migrants and utilize military resources.[41]

Foreign policy

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Vought lobbied against NATO ascensions of Finland and Sweden, countries that later entered the alliance.[42]

References

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  1. ^ Ventura 2024.
  2. ^ Sherman & Palmer 2020.
  3. ^ Schwartz & Thomas 2025.
  4. ^ Reinhard 2024.
  5. ^ "Thurlow Bunyea Vought". Poughkeepsie Journal.
  6. ^ a b Davenport 2025.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Chafkin 2025.
  8. ^ Coppins 2025.
  9. ^ a b Dias 2024.
  10. ^ Kady 2008.
  11. ^ a b Sherman & Cogan 2011.
  12. ^ Zumbrun 2017.
  13. ^ Swan 2017.
  14. ^ Tackett & Haberman 2018.
  15. ^ Rogers & Rappeport 2019.
  16. ^ Davis 2019.
  17. ^ Rappeport 2019.
  18. ^ Kang 2019.
  19. ^ Cochrane 2019a.
  20. ^ Wong, Karni & Cochrane 2019.
  21. ^ Fandos, Vogel & Shear 2019.
  22. ^ Savage & Cochrane 2019.
  23. ^ Cochrane 2019b.
  24. ^ Cochrane 2020.
  25. ^ Weiland, Cochrane & Haberman 2020.
  26. ^ Baker 2020.
  27. ^ Weiland 2020.
  28. ^ Haberman & McKinley 2020.
  29. ^ Haberman 2020.
  30. ^ Cameron 2021.
  31. ^ a b Allison 2021.
  32. ^ Montanaro 2021.
  33. ^ Meckler & Dawsey 2021.
  34. ^ Cineas 2021.
  35. ^ Rappeport 2023.
  36. ^ Edmondson 2023.
  37. ^ Swan & Haberman 2023.
  38. ^ Sherman 2012.
  39. ^ Davenport 2019.
  40. ^ Crowley 2020.
  41. ^ Goodman 2022.
  42. ^ Edmondson 2022.

Works cited

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Articles

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