With Russell Vought’s confirmation by the Senate last week, one of the most right-wing staffers in years is now empowered in the new administration.[1] He is so dangerous that he provoked his own fainthearted college into distancing itself from him, after initially congratulating him.[2] Now that Russell Vought is heading the Office of Management and Budget (which he also did toward the end of Trump 1.0), one wonders when Project 2026 starts.
Vought was a principal author of the infamous Project 2025 (P-25) manifesto, which Trump wisely denied, but then has started implementing. Poor POLITICO even posted a piece showing 37 similarities between P-25 and the first month of Trump 2.0.[3] That piece will likely have to be updated.
Then over the weekend, POLITICO ran a long piece, strawmanning Vought.[4] According to that objective piece, the new Director of OMB plans to reduce the bureaucracy to rubble, firing who knows how many. And such was conceived months ago, as if President Biden had no equivalent like a Project 2021. Supposedly and hysterically, “the depths of his detailed plan” may threaten our very democracy. Vought’s sinister “fingerprints” are all over Trump’s early executive orders. The nerdular wonk inspires “fear, anger and concern that he will trample spending laws passed by Congress and dismantle programs to help the environment, poor people and other priorities of the left.” Why, he has even recruited staffers who agree with his and the President’s vision.
Indeed, Vought seems to plead guilty to wanting to dismantle the “deep state” and rein in spending. He also seems to think that elections have consequences and that he, as well as previous leaders, should be free to advocate his sincere convictions. When the Left was in power, those notions, of course, seemed normal. In addition to studying budget spreadsheets in his off time, what seems to send chills into some is the prospect that Vought might “issue new guidance on the funding freeze as soon as he takes office.” This has led one top Democratic leader to avow: “Russ Vought does not belong in public service. He really should be thrown out.”
And Mother Jones is equally hysterical at the imaginary theocratic takeover, suggesting that Trump pines to hand over power to those Christian nationalists.[5]
Toward the beginning of Trump’s fourth week, the recent days heard or saw the following initiatives:
· The CFPB was hit Friday night, with Vought being appointed its temporary chair as those offices were closed and its staffers furloughed.
· The NIH was targeted over the weekend, sending a chill into university gravy trains, as an order was given to drastically reduce research grants “in a move that could send shockwaves through American higher education as universities scramble to fill the gap.” The NIH announced Friday night that it would limit the squishy “administrative” line items to a mere 15%; in the past some universities had taken from 30-60% for overhead.Taming “Liberal DEI Deans’ slush fund” could save a quick $4B.[6]
· Supposedly policy wonks are already drawing up euthanasia orders for the Department. of Education, which dates all the way back to 1979.
· New AG Pam Bondi announced that the President had signed an executive order to end “anti-Christian violence.”
· Review Obergefell—Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito announced they are ready.
· The Kennedy Center board was changed to keep drag queen performances out.
And today marks only the 21st day in office. Gerald Seib of the Wall Street Journal notes that Trump’s 54 Executive Orders in his first three weeks almost equals the total 55 orders from his first term—and this probably does not even include his call to abolish the penny or return straws to plastic. Purportedly, a team of 200 anti-Deep State staffers have been preparing these for two years.
Humm, seems to coincide with P-25.
Of course, seculars have the willies scared out of them just thinking that Trump is about to start a new state-church. Sorry, but he’s no Henry VIII. Sure, Mr. Trump recently preached and Russell Vought likely agreed: “From the earliest days of our republic, faith in God has always been the ultimate source of the strength that beats in the hearts of our nation. We have to bring religion back. We have to bring it back much stronger. It’s one of the biggest problems that we’ve had over the last fairly long period of time. We have to bring it back.”[7]
But to criticize either Vought or Trump as an establishmentarian is surely an inexcusable mistake for any serious commentator (see my post on this site about Trump’s remarks to the National Prayer Breakfast).
Yet, to the exiled Left, this mild-mannered guy must surely be mega-dangerous.
However, to the non-frenzied, if just a small breath of rationalism could be inhaled, this alleged new “Christian nationalism” advocated by P-25 is about as scary as the Church Lady from Saturday Night Live.
One of my favorite tweets in the wee hours of Nov. 6, 2024, as it became clear that Trump had won, was by the Ruthless Podcast guys, who placed fictitiously into the lips of the president-elect this tweet: “Can you believe we denounced Project 2025 and now get to enact it?”
Wait til P-26 gets released. Be still, my heart.
[1] For some of Vought’s candid views, see an interview he did for the Founders Ministry in 2022 at:
. He gives a shout out to pastors Kent Hughes and Mark Dever, among others.
[2] On X on Thursday night, the once-venerable Wheaton College congratulated Vought, one of its alums, only to retract such on 2/8.
https://www.dailywire.com/news/christian-college-caves-to-woke-mob-apologizes-for-congratulating-alum-in-trump-admin. Shortly thereafter, Hillsdale college, which had also congratulated Vought, issued a trigger warning on Saturday that it would not be retracting its earlier congratulation. Cf. posting.
[3] That article (https://www.politico.com/interactives/2025/trump-executive-orders-project-2025/) on Feb. 5 lists 37 ways that P-25 is being implemented.
[4] https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/07/russ-vought-omb-director-agenda-00202969?nname=politico-toplines&nid=0000018f-3124-de07-a98f-3be4d1400000&nrid=0000014e-f0fb-dd93-ad7f-f8ffaab50000.
[5] See: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/02/trump-vought-christian-nationalism-nar-prayer/
[6] https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/08/trump-nih-university-funding-014838.
[7] https://www.whitehouse.gov/remarks/2025/02/remarks-by-president-trump-at-the-national-prayer-breakfast/.