General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBehind Trump's imperial presidency (and Elon), there's Russell Vought.
.........
"Russell Vought, the Trump loyalist whod just been named director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as well as acting director of the CFPB. Farman hadnt heard of Vought before he became CFPB director, which is pretty much how Vought likes it. A self-described boring budget guy, hes best known for co-authoring the 900-page policy playbook of the Heritage Foundations Project 2025, which has become something of a bible for Trumps second term. Voughts think tank, the Center for Renewing America, has produced numerous policy papers that advocate for such Trump fixations as the annexation of Greenland (a prudent aim, according to a CRA paper) and enacting broad tariffs (just as sometimes a nation must go to war with guns and bombs, so sometimes are trade wars necessary), among others. At the center of Voughts ideology is the unitary executive theory, which critics say amounts to an argument that Trump should have wide latitude to do whatever he wants.
Voughts unique combination of loyalty and knowledge of how the government actually works makes him perhaps the most powerful person in Washington not named Donald Trump. If you see a Republican politician or a member of the Trump administration talking about the deep state, or the regime, theres an almost 100% chance they know his work. Nobody in DC has a better grip on the numbers and the management process of the federal government than Russ Vought, says Steve Bannon, Trumps former chief strategist. Hes one of the critical architects of the Trump restructuring of the US government. This includes Musk, whos been in regular contact with Vought from the start of the presidential transition and is seen by Voughts allies as the public-facing arm of his agenda."
https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2025-russell-vought-doge-musk-trump/?srnd=homepage-americas
Among all the other deplorables who make up this degenerate administartion, Vought is pure evil, diligently working to destroy Democracy in the United States.
The committee approved his nomination in an 110 vote (with all 9 Democrats and 1 Independent boycotting the committee vote due to January 2025 federal spending freeze). The U.S. Senate confirmed Vought's nomination on February 6, 2025 with a 5347 vote.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell_Vought#:~:text=The%20committee%20approved%20his%20nomination,with%20a%2053%E2%80%9347%20vote.
He is the poster child for Christian Nationalism, or more appropriate, the anti-christ.
hedda_foil
(16,916 posts)lostincalifornia
(4,927 posts)his ideology, Project 2025 is far worse.
dpibel
(3,798 posts)The unitary executive theory says the president should be king.
But the hard-hitting reporting of Bloomberg can't quite say that.
lostincalifornia
(4,927 posts)Last edited Wed Oct 1, 2025, 09:08 PM - Edit history (1)
article characterizing trump's presidency as an "imperial presidency" is saying in no uncertain terms that his presidency is trying to expand his powers beyond constitutional limits, at the expense of the legislative and judicial branches.
It describes Vought as a "christian nationalist".
The article is far too long to produce here, but exposes the very dangerous people behind this presidency, which I don't think many people are aware of, even though VP Harris repeatedly warned people that project 2025 would be the goal of a trump presidency, and was essentially ignored.
I doubt many people are even aware who Vought is, or even steven miller, and all this article is doing is exposing who they are. And they are not nice people.
dpibel
(3,798 posts)And who said anything about executive privilege? The unitary executive theory is an entirely different thing.
Thanks so much for your help!
lostincalifornia
(4,927 posts)don't think you really want to have a discussion with me about this, because I suspect you assume I am intellectually inferior, and I sure wouldn't want you to waste your precious time with someone like me.
Thank-you.