In contrast to Tesla titan Elon Musk, who acted as a wrecking ball when he served as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, Vought is much more deliberate in the way that he uses existing government processes to his advantage. He has been exploiting ambiguities, vulnerabilities, and loopholes in federal processes and administrative rules to tear down the government that President Donald Trump heads.

Russell Vought is one of the most powerful people in Washington. The director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), also a leading architect of Project 2025, is running roughshod over federal workers, federal spending, and federal regulations. Quietly, methodically, and brutally, Vought is manifesting the mission that Steve Bannon called for years ago: destruction of the administrative state.

Russell Vought is one of the most powerful people in Washington. The director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), also a leading architect of Project 2025, is running roughshod over federal workers, federal spending, and federal regulations. Quietly, methodically, and brutally, Vought is manifesting the mission that Steve Bannon called for years ago: destruction of the administrative state.

In contrast to Tesla titan Elon Musk, who acted as a wrecking ball when he served as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, Vought is much more deliberate in the way that he uses existing government processes to his advantage. He has been exploiting ambiguities, vulnerabilities, and loopholes in federal processes and administrative rules to tear down the government that President Donald Trump heads.

VoughtBBs power did not come out of nowhere. In an insightful profile for The New Yorker, Andy Kroll explained that Vought is powerful simply by the fact he controls the OMB: “Wha