To Celebrate Russell Vought's 50th, Tell Us How He's Hurt You
A man most people have never heard of is almost single-handedly ruining countless lives.
White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought turns 50 on Thursday, March 26. (Wrecking lives for a living makes you age fast.)
If something bad happens to you or a loved one in the foreseeable future, it’s likely that Donald Trump’s OMB director played a big role. In concert with others, the Revolving Door Project is working to help people understand Vought’s culpability in causing their pain. Vought must no longer be able to destroy the structural safeguards of our society in relative anonymity.
What we could really use are concrete examples of Vought-caused harms and vulnerabilities. To “celebrate” Vampire Vought’s birthday, we’re asking you, our readers, to send us examples of how the OMB director has made life worse for you or others, and how he has made all of us more susceptible to avoidable calamities.
We won’t be able to publicize every example, but if we have a story bank with dozens of cases of Vought-created harms and vulnerabilities, then we can, over time, explain the specific ways that Trump’s “shadow president” is hurting and endangering people.
To the extent that you can do so safely, please send tips (examples already reported in the media or first-hand accounts) to us at revolvingdoorproject@protonmail.com. This will help us highlight salient consequences of Vought’s actions.
Below we explain the impetus for our nascent project to make Vought infamous and combat Voughtism.
Why Focus On Vought?
More than any other person, Vought is the architect and executor of Trump’s government demolition agenda. The implementation of that agenda is unleashing avoidable material harms, from financial fraud to foregone cancer treatments, on people across the United States every day. To the extent that some harms haven’t yet materialized, that’s largely a matter of luck. The bottom line is that Trump, Vought, and Voughtism are needlessly exacerbating preventable suffering and death, and putting many more people at risk of adverse outcomes.
Vought as DOGE’s Real Brains and Brawn
As an advocate of impoundment (the illegal refusal to spend money appropriated by Congress) during the first Trump administration, and a leading force behind Project 2025 (the policy blueprint for the second Trump administration), Vought is in many ways the inspiration for the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
DOGE should be understood as an anti-democratic and lethal effort to concentrate federal spending power in the executive branch and selectively sabotage government capacity (e.g., bolstering ICE while eviscerating FEMA, HHS, the SEC, and dozens of other agencies). In his role as OMB director, Vought has institutionalized DOGE.
Vought’s Goal? To Impose Far-Right Agenda
For Vought, vandalizing the civil service and seizing autocratic control over the federal money spigot is a means to an end. Vought’s objective is to replace our imperfectly democratic government with a fully authoritarian one that better suits oligarchs and far-right ideologues like himself, a self-described Christian nationalist who holds reactionary views on virtually every issue. Firing federal workers en masse and freezing certain forms of funding is Vought’s way of making his cruel vision a reality.
Vought’s Advantage? Flying Under the Radar
When Elon Musk—the chainsaw-wielding champion of austerity for working people (alongside continued welfare for corporations and billionaires)—was the ubiquitous and obnoxious mouthpiece for DOGE, there was more attention paid to its deadly consequences.
But since Musk’s wrecking crew officially disbanded in November 2025, there has been a misconception that DOGE “failed,” and its mission is over. That couldn’t be further from the truth, and not only because numerous DOGE agents have “burrowed into” federal agencies “like ticks.” The reality is that Vought, operating behind the scenes, has been leading Trump’s life-threatening assault on the public good all along.
Today, the strategically reclusive Vought continues to lead DOGE-style attacks on the federal government. But he does so with much less fanfare than when Musk was ostensibly in charge of the onslaught.
Our Goal? Make Vought as Infamous as Musk
While Vought is far quieter than Musk, he is no less villainous. In truth, Vought embodies the worst and most venal traits of the oligarch class as well as any of them—and he pairs it with actual expertise in the inner workings of government. The Revolving Door Project’s goal is to make Vought at least as infamous as Musk.
How? Connect the Dots Between Vought-Led Actions and Preventable Harms
Trump 2.0 has drastically reduced the size of the federal workforce. Vought, who admitted that he wants to traumatize government workers, has played a leading role. As of mid-March 2026, there are roughly 264,000 fewer federal employees than there were on January 20, 2025, according to data from the Office of Personnel Management. Amid chaos unleashed by DOGE, more than 136,000 dedicated civil servants accepted so-called deferred resignation offers and tens of thousands were fired due to their “probationary” status (e.g., recent hires and long-term employees who recently changed roles). Morale among remaining staff has plummeted.
Moreover, during fiscal year 2025, the Trump administration unlawfully blocked the disbursement of more than $410 billion in appropriated funds, according to data compiled by the Democratic staffs of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. Nearly all of that happened after Vought rescinded OMB’s January 27, 2025 impoundment memo, which was ruled illegal. Despite that ruling, the White House has continued to withhold money through pocket recissions, onerous grant and contract review procedures, funding “pauses,” and other means—especially if funding is destined for Democratic-led districts or projects associated with climate action, health equity, or other efforts not supported by Trump and Vought.
The numbers above are abstract. What they mean concretely is far fewer people working at agencies tasked with keeping the public safe and far less investment in programs designed to improve public well-being.
Trump 2.0’s unilateral staffing and spending cuts have already had devastating effects, and potentially worse outcomes await. Vought is leaving people more vulnerable to foodborne illnesses, workplace injuries, train derailments, aviation disasters, viral epidemics, and extreme weather catastrophes. Vought is denying people access to lifesaving medical treatments, child care, and other necessities. Vought has been called Trump’s shadow president, but a more accurate label may be shadow dictator. A man most people have never heard of is almost single-handedly ruining countless lives.
Want more? Check out some of the pieces that we published or contributed research or thoughts to in the last week:
TRACKER: How the AI Industry’s Race To Dominance Has Harmed Children
Resisting Trump’s corruption, with Jeff Hauser
Corruption Calendar Weeks 60-61: A New Mask for the Trump Administration’s Cruelty
Map: Trump Has Often Delayed or Denied Disaster Aid
As Insurance Rates Skyrocket, Groups Call for Data to be Made Public
Saving The Worst For Last: Which Trump Administration Lawyer Most Deserves To Lose Their License?
Four ways to lower property insurance rate increases in your state
What a great idea!
I am a former fed who was fired by the Trump administration. I was a Regional Director for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Vought and DOGE shuttered all 10 of the federal Regional Offices for Mental Health and Addiction services. I and my team were terminated. What this means is states no longer have their on-the-ground federal team supporting them in deploying their federal dollars for mental health and addiction services. Ironically our team's task was to be sure states' use of federal dollars were effective, namely, to ensure all Americans, especially marginalized Americans, had access to mental health and addicition services. I talk more about what happened to me and why it's bad for America in my substack, The Radical Preventionist: https://scottmgagnon.substack.com/p/welcome-to-the-radical-preventionist