Russell Vought
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Russell Thurlow Vought (born March 26, 1976) is an American former government official who was the director of the
Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...
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. 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. In 2021, Vought founded the organization the Center for Renewing America, which is focused on combating
critical race theory Critical race theory (CRT) is a cross-disciplinary examination, by social and civil-rights scholars and activists, of how laws, social and political movements, and media shape, and are shaped by, social conceptions of race and ethnicity. Goa ...
.


Education

Vought earned his
Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
from Wheaton College and his
Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...
from the
George Washington University Law School The George Washington University Law School (GW Law) is the law school of George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. Established in 1865, GW Law is the oldest top law school in the national capital. GW Law offers the largest range of cou ...
.


Career

Vought worked for
Heritage Action Heritage Action for America, more commonly known simply as Heritage Action, is a Conservatism in the United States, conservative policy advocacy organization founded in 2010. Heritage Action, which has affiliates throughout the United States, is ...
, the lobbying arm of the Heritage Foundation. He was the executive director and budget director of the
Republican Study Committee The Republican Study Committee (RSC) is a study group of conservative members of the Republican Party in the United States House of Representatives. As of 2021, the Chairman of the RSC is Representative Jim Banks of Indiana. Although the prim ...
, the policy director for the
Republican Conference of the United States House of Representatives The House Republican Conference is the party caucus for Republicans in the United States House of Representatives. It hosts meetings and is the primary forum for communicating the party's message to members. The Conference produces a daily pub ...
, and a legislative assistant for U.S. Senator
Phil Gramm William Philip Gramm (born July 8, 1942) is an American economist and politician who represented Texas in both chambers of Congress. Though he began his political career as a Democrat, Gramm switched to the Republican Party in 1983. Gramm was ...
.


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 The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...
(OMB). He was confirmed by the Senate on February 28, 2018, in a 50–49 vote. Vice President
Mike Pence Michael Richard Pence (born June 7, 1959) is an American politician who served as the 48th vice president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 50th ...
cast the tie-breaking vote. During the confirmation hearings for Vought's nomination to the OMB, Senator
Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007 ...
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." ''
The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'' magazine and various Christian organizations denounced Sanders's questioning as a violation of the No Religious Test Clause. In 2019, Vought was one of nine government officials who defied a subpoena to testify before Congress in relation to the
Trump–Ukraine scandal The "Trump–Ukraine scandal" refers to efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump to coerce Ukraine and other countries into providing damaging narratives about 2020 Democratic Party presidential candidate Joe Biden, and giving misinformatio ...
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 Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, was impeached for the first time by the House of Representatives of the 116th United States Congress on December 18, 2019. The House adopted two articles of impeachment against Trump: abuse ...
.


OMB director

On January 2, 2019, when OMB Director
Mick Mulvaney John Michael Mulvaney (born July 21, 1967) is an American politician who served as director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) from February 2017 until March 2020, and as acting White House Chief of Staff from January 2019 until March ...
became acting White House chief of staff, Vought became the acting OMB director, though Mulvaney continued to hold the director position. On March 18, 2020, Trump announced his intent to nominate him to be OMB Director. Vought was confirmed by the Senate on July 20, 2020, by a vote of 51–45; and was sworn in two days later. In May 2020, Vought broke the OMB's long-standing practice of publishing updated economic forecasts, citing disruption caused by the
coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
. 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 Critical race theory (CRT) is a cross-disciplinary examination, by social and civil-rights scholars and activists, of how laws, social and political movements, and media shape, and are shaped by, social conceptions of race and ethnicity. Goa ...
" 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.


2020 election

After Joe Biden won the
2020 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 January: **C ...
, 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. 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." Some experts said that Vought's refusal to cooperate was unprecedented, while other OMB staffers said it was common practice.


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 Axios commonly refers to: * Axios (river), a river that runs through Greece and North Macedonia * ''Axios'' (website), an American news and information website Axios may also refer to: Brands and enterprises * Axios, a brand of suspension produ ...
, the groups "will provide the ideological ammunition to sustain Trump's political movement after his departure from the White House." In 2021, the ''
Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' 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. 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 Critical race theory (CRT) is a cross-disciplinary examination, by social and civil-rights scholars and activists, of how laws, social and political movements, and media shape, and are shaped by, social conceptions of race and ethnicity. Goa ...
." Vought told
Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
the 33-page handbook is "a crash course in CRT, a 'one-stop shopping' for parents trying to hold their school board members accountable." Vought confirmed that on June 22, 2022, federal agents conducted a search of the home of CRA's Director of Litigation,
Jeffrey Clark Jeffrey Bossert Clark (born April 17, 1967) is an American lawyer who was Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division from 2018 to 2021. In September 2020, he was also appointed acting head of the Civil Divis ...
, who is the former Justice Department official who participated in efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election.


Notes


References


External links


Center for Renewing America
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Vought, Russell T. 1976 births Living people 21st-century American lawyers Deputy Directors for Management of the Office of Management and Budget Directors of the Office of Management and Budget George Washington University Law School alumni The Heritage Foundation Trump administration cabinet members Wheaton College (Illinois) alumni