PERSON: Russ Vought

Policy Director

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 for part of 2018, 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 stating that his team had 45 meetings with the incoming administration prior to Biden’s inauguration.

In 2021, Vought founded the organization the Center for Renewing America, which is focused on combating Critical Race Theory. He is involved with Project 2025, a Heritage Foundation-led plan that seeks to reshape the federal government. Vought was named policy director of the Republican National Committee platform committee in May 2024.

Vought identifies as a Christian nationalist who seeks to infuse the government and society with elements of Christianity while having “a commitment to an institutional separation between church and state, but not the separation of Christianity from its influence on government and society,” according to The Washington Post.

In November 2024, President-Elect Trump announced that he would renominate Vought as director of the OMB for his second term as president.

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