President Donald Trump’s pick to head up the Office of Management and Budget was confirmed in a party-line Senate vote Thursday night, enabling Project 2025 architect Russell Vought to pursue his goal of putting federal employees “in trauma.”
Vought is a key proponent of the “unitary executive” theory, a formerly fringe doctrine that claims Trump has the power to control federal spending absolutely. That view of unchecked executive power has guided Elon Musk and DOGE’s assaults on various federal agencies.
Trump, who appointed Vought to the OMB post during his first term, had claimed on the campaign trail that he had “no idea who was behind” Project 2025.
“I know nothing about Project 2025,” Trump wrote in a summer 2024 post on Truth Social. “Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them.”
Though Trump repeatedly disavowed the wildly unpopular Heritage Foundation-drafted platform, he enacted many of its major goals via executive order in his first weeks in the White House and previously named top contributors to his administration.
Vought is the latest Project 2025 contributor to join the administration, but FCC chair Brendan Carr, CIA head John Ratcliffe and “border czar” Tom Homan all also worked on the policy mandate ahead of joining the Trump White House.
Last month, the White House once again claimed Trump had “nothing to do with Project 2025” in a statement to Axios. But Democrats are highlighting the inconsistency.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Ct., ranking member on the House Appropriations Committee, said that Trump’s distance from the playbook “was a lie.”
“Project 2025’s architects, including Russ Vought, are taking positions within Trump’s inner circle to carry out their agenda of demolition,” DeLauro said in a statement.
Gerry Connolly, D-Va., ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, also noted Vought's ties to Project 2025 in a statement on the confirmation.
“This is a man who has referred to a ‘post-constitutional’ era, and has bragged about wanting to traumatize our dedicated public servants,” Connolly said. “Senate Republicans have not only endorsed Mr. Vought — they have also endorsed the dystopian and authoritarian Project 2025 agenda.”
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