Project 2025 contributing author Russell Vought is slated to resume his prior role of Office of Management and Budget director.

If confirmed, Mr. Vought will be at the center of President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to upend the federal bureaucracy.

Russell Vought, President-elect Donald Trump‘s nominee to be the next director of the Office of Management and Budget, faced tough questioning from Senate Democrats during his Wednesday confirmation hearing.

After Trump's defeat, Vought founded the Center for Renewing America, a conservative think tank. In speeches he made in 2023 and 2024, Vought described how he helped create legal justifications to prevent military leaders and government lawyers from obstructing Trump's executive actions, ProPublica reported.

Donald Trump's choice to oversee the federal budget, Russell Vought, defended the U.S. president-elect's goal of cutting spending by refusing to spend money that Congress has already authorized at a Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday.

“Ranking member Durbin, President Biden is the president of the United States. He was duly sworn in, and he is the president of the United States,” Bondi replied, avoiding a straightforward answer. “There was a peaceful transition of power; President Trump left office and was overwhelmingly elected in 2024.”

Russ Vought faces questioning during his confirmation about him wanting to make some federal employees more accountable to the president than to the bureaucracy.

Democratic senators voiced their frustration Wednesday with answers from Russell Vought, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to head up the White House’s budget office, about how he sees the limits of presidential power.

If confirmed, Trump's budget pick Russell Vought could affect federal investments that are vital to Erie, environmental advocates say.

Russell Vought, President-elect Trump’s choice to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), will testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee

Russell Vought, Donald Trump's pick to direct the Office of Management and Budget, will appear before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee on Wednesday around 1:00 p.m. Vought held this position in Trump's first term and has since worked on the RNC's platform committee and the Heritage Foundation's "Project 2025.

Russell Vought, President-elect Trump’s pick to head the White House budget office, downplayed his past comments about the usefulness of shutting down the federal government to achieve