Russ Vought, the current director of the Office of Management and Budget, has been one of the most influential figures shaping the direction of federal policy under the second Trump administration. In the last several days, Vought has played a central role in executing a strategy of large-scale government layoffs and agency shrinkage. Politico reports that Vought has been closely overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which was launched under Elon Musk and designed to execute mass layoffs across federal agencies. Over three hundred thousand federal jobs have been cut so far, many attributed directly to plans written and enforced by Vought. These actions have not been without controversy, with multiple federal lawsuits challenging the legality of the mass layoffs and widespread reports of confusion, reinstatements, and errors. For example, after firing nearly a thousand Indian Health Service employees, the Health and Human Services secretary had to immediately rehire them to avoid disruptions. A similar scramble occurred at the Food and Drug Administration and agencies critical to public safety, where some dismissed staff were abruptly brought back.
Vought’s influence extends beyond staffing decisions. He recently froze twenty six billion dollars in federal funding for infrastructure and clean energy projects, mostly hitting blue states, using what many in Washington describe as unprecedented authority over the federal purse strings. A senior administration official told ProPublica that right now, agency heads feel like they work for Vought more than for the president. Vought’s blueprint, shaped by his leadership in the conservative planning effort called Project Two Thousand Twenty Five, has become the playbook for executive orders and agency actions. Both CNN and Politico found that dozens of recent orders follow Project Two Thousand Twenty Five’s policy goals almost word for word, a project on which Vought is described as a chief architect.
These decisions have not gone unchallenged. Federal judges have issued blocks or temporary injunctions on several rounds of layoffs, questioning whether the Office of Management and Budget or the Department of Government Efficiency has the legal authority to fire hundreds of thousands of workers or rescind their bargaining rights. Despite the legal hurdles, the administration has continued to pursue extensive cuts, saying that layoffs will escalate until the workforce and regulatory powers are dramatically reduced.
Vought’s public profile has also grown as his policies sparked viral moments, like a recent AI video posted by President Trump casting him as the Grim Reaper of Washington. As fiscal confrontations continue and litigation mounts, insiders say the turmoil and restructuring are unlikely to slow, with Vought remaining firmly at the center of federal management decisions and political controversy.
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