Russell Vought
Russell Thurlow Vought (born March 26, 1976) is an American former government official who was the director of the Office of Management and Budget from July 2020 to January 2021. He was previously deputy director of the OMB from 2018 to 2020 and acting director from 2019 to 2020.
Russell Vought | |
|---|---|
| 42nd Director of the Office of Management and Budget | |
| In office January 2, 2019 – January 20, 2021 Acting: January 2, 2019 – July 22, 2020[a] | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Deputy | Derek Kan |
| Preceded by | Mick Mulvaney |
| Succeeded by | Shalanda Young |
| Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget | |
| In office March 14, 2018 – July 22, 2020 | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Preceded by | Brian Deese |
| Succeeded by | Derek Kan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Russell Thurlow Vought March 26, 1976 |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Mary |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | Wheaton College (BA) George Washington University (JD) |
After Joe Biden was elected president, Biden and his transition team accused Vought of hindering the incoming administration's transition by refusing to allow incoming Biden officials to meet with OMB staff. Vought denied the accusations.[1][2]
In 2021, Vought founded the organization the Center for Renewing America, which is focused on combating critical race theory.[3]
Education
Vought earned his Bachelor of Arts from Wheaton College and his Juris Doctor from the George Washington University Law School.
Career
Vought worked for Heritage Action, the lobbying arm of the Heritage Foundation.[4][5] He was the executive director and budget director of the Republican Study Committee, the policy director for the Republican Conference of the United States House of Representatives, and a legislative assistant for U.S. Senator Phil Gramm.[6][7]
Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
Deputy OMB Director
In April 2017, President Trump nominated Vought to be deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). He was confirmed by the Senate on February 28, 2018, in a 50–49 vote. Vice President Mike Pence cast the tie-breaking vote.[8]
During the confirmation hearings for Vought's nomination to the OMB, Senator Bernie Sanders questioned Vought about a statement that "Muslims do not simply have a deficient theology. They do not know God because they have rejected Jesus Christ his Son, and they stand condemned."[9][10] The Atlantic magazine and various Christian organizations denounced Sanders's questioning as a violation of the No Religious Test Clause.[10][11]
In 2019, Vought was one of nine government officials who defied a subpoena to testify before Congress in relation to the Trump–Ukraine scandal and the administration's decision to freeze military aid to Ukraine. The decision to freeze aid to Ukraine had led Democrats to launch the first impeachment of Donald Trump.[12][13]
OMB director
On January 2, 2019, when OMB Director Mick Mulvaney became acting White House chief of staff, Vought became the acting OMB director, though Mulvaney continued to hold the director position.[14][15] On March 18, 2020, Trump announced his intent to nominate him to be OMB Director.[16] Vought was confirmed by the Senate on July 20, 2020, by a vote of 51–45;[17] and was sworn in two days later.[18]
In May 2020, Vought broke the OMB's long-standing practice of publishing updated economic forecasts,[13] citing disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.[13]
On September 4, 2020, Vought, at the direction of President Trump, published an OMB memo instructing federal agencies to identify all contracts or other agency spending related to any training on "critical race theory" or "white privilege" and to identify all available avenues within the law to cancel any such contracts and/or to divert federal dollars away from these training sessions.[19][20]
2020 election
After Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election, Vought was accused by Biden and his transition team of hindering the Biden administration transition by refusing to allow incoming Biden officials to meet with OMB staff. Typically, career OMB staff would provide an incoming administration with cost estimates and details on existing programs.[2]
Vought defended his action stating that OMB had provided funding for the transition and that there had been more than 45 meetings with Biden officials but that "OMB staff are working on this Administration's policies and will do so until this Administration's final day in office."[21] Some experts said that Vought's refusal to cooperate was unprecedented, while other OMB staffers said it was common practice.[22]
Center for Renewing America
In January 2021, Vought started an organization called the Center for Renewing America and an affiliated issue advocacy group called American Restoration Action. According to Axios, the groups "will provide the ideological ammunition to sustain Trump's political movement after his departure from the White House."[23]
In 2021, the Washington Post fact-checker rated Vought's statement that only 5 to 7 percent of the Biden administration's $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan would go to "actual roads and bridges and ports and things that you and I would say is real infrastructure" as "Three Pinocchios" out of four.[24]
On June 8, 2021, Citizens for Renewing America (CRA), the advocacy arm of Center for American Restoration, released a guide to "combatting critical race theory."[25] Vought told Fox News the 33-page handbook is "a crash course in CRT, a 'one-stop shopping' for parents trying to hold their school board members accountable."[26]
Vought confirmed that on June 22, 2022, federal agents conducted a search of the home of CRA's Director of Litigation, Jeffrey Clark, who is the former Justice Department official who participated in efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election.[27]
Notes
- ^ Vought was Acting Director from January 2, 2019 to March 31, 2020, during Mulvaney's term as Acting White House Chief of Staff; Vought continued in that position until being sworn in on July 22, 2020.
References
- ^ Breuninger, Kevin (December 31, 2020). "Trump budget chief refuses to direct staff to help with Biden spending plans". CNBC. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
- ^ a b "Trump Budget Chief Hampers Biden Transition With Ban on Meetings". Bloomberg.com. December 31, 2020. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
- ^ "Republicans, spurred by an unlikely figure, see political promise in critical race theory". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
- ^ Kiernan, Paul (July 20, 2020). "Senate Confirms Russell Vought as Head of White House Budget Office". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
- ^ Edwards, Jane (April 10, 2017). "Russell Vought to Be Nominated OMB Deputy Chief". ExecutiveGov. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
- ^ . The White House. April 7, 2017. Archived from the original on April 8, 2017. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
- ^ Graff, Garrett (August 13, 2008). "The Insider: Russell Vought". Washingtonian. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
- ^ https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/mike-pence-breaks-another-tie-senate-vote Roll Call. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
- ^ . The Resurgent. January 17, 2016. Archived from the original on October 14, 2017. Retrieved June 10, 2017.
- ^ a b Camila Domonoske (June 9, 2017). "Is It Hateful To Believe In Hell? Bernie Sanders' Questions Prompt Backlash". NPR. Retrieved June 10, 2017.
- ^ Green, Emma (June 8, 2017). "Bernie Sanders's Religious Test for Christians in Public Office". The Atlantic. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
- ^ Emma, Caitlin. "Senate confirms Russ Vought to be White House budget chief". POLITICO. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
- ^ a b c Kiernan, Paul (July 20, 2020). "Senate Confirms Russell Vought as Head of White House Budget Office". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
- ^ Wilhelm, Colin (December 14, 2018). "Former Heritage Action executive Russell Vought to act as Trump administration budget chief". Washington Examiner. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
- ^ Lemire, Jonathan; Colvin, Jill; Lucey, Catherine (December 15, 2018). "Budget Head Mulvaney Picked as Trump's Acting Chief of Staff". RealClearPolitics. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
- ^ "President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate and Appoint Individuals to Key Administration Posts". whitehouse.gov. Retrieved March 18, 2020 – via National Archives.
- ^ Kiernan, Paul (July 20, 2020). "Senate Confirms Russell Vought as Head of White House Budget Office". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
- ^ Russell Vought [@RussVought45] (July 23, 2020). (Tweet). Archived from the original on July 24, 2020 – via Twitter.
- ^ "M-20-34 Training in the Federal Government (September 4, 2020)" (PDF). Retrieved June 18, 2021 – via National Archives.
- ^ Dawsey, Josh; Stein, Jeff. "White House directs federal agencies to cancel race-related training sessions it calls 'un-American propaganda'". Washington Post. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
- ^ Kevin Liptak. "Trump budget director accuses Biden team of 'false statements' in latest transition spat". CNN. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
- ^ "WHITE HOUSE: Spat between Biden team, OMB may delay fiscal 2022 budget". www.eenews.net. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
- ^ Nichols, Hans; Markay, Lachlan (January 26, 2021). "Scoop: Former OMB director to set up Pro-Trump think tanks". Axios. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
- ^ Rizzo, Salvador. "Analysis | The GOP claim that only 5 to 7 percent of Biden's plan is for 'real infrastructure'". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
- ^ "Combatting Critical Race Theory in Your Community: An A to Z Guide On How To Stop Critical Race Theory And Reclaim Your Local School Board". Retrieved June 18, 2021.
- ^ Leach, Matt. "Conservative think tank creates 'A to Z guide' for stopping critical race theory in schools". Fox News. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
- ^ "Home of Jeffrey Clark, Trump DOJ official, searched by federal agents". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
External links
- Center for Renewing America
- Appearances on C-SPAN