John,

The Office of Management and Budget “... touches every function of government and every sector of the economy, which makes it central to the business of running the country.”¹ So it should set off loud alarms that Donald Trump would nominate a man who is a self-described “Christian Nationalist”―who believes the United States is a Christian nation―and who would dramatically expand presidential powers, calling this power grab “radical constitutionalism.”²

Russell T. Vought is an architect of Project 2025 and the former Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for the final two years of Donald Trump’s first term in office.³ At OMB, Vought helped craft a FY2020 budget that included $1.5 trillion in cuts to Medicaid, $845 billion in cuts to Medicare, and $25 billion in cuts to Social Security.⁴ Just like he would later propose in Project 2025, the goal was to convert Medicaid into a block grant program where funding would not increase even though needs would.

As head of the OMB now, Russ Vought would at Trump’s behest attack all investments in low-income households, people with disabilities, and older Americans, and would also threaten Medicare, the Affordable Care Act, and much, much more. Medicaid alone serves 80 million people―Vought’s cuts would wreak havoc and cruelty over a huge swath of our population, especially the most vulnerable people in our society. It’s critical that the Senate reject his confirmation.

Send a direct message to the Senate and tell them to reject Russ Vought as head of OMB.

Vought has a long history of attacking Medicaid and other essential human needs programs. Vought worked in a variety of leadership roles for the Republican Study Committee―the conservative caucus of the House of Representatives―and in 2005 proposed a series of draconian cuts to offset the costs of recovery from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The cuts included $246 billion from Medicaid, $85 billion from the Earned Income Tax Credit, raised Medicare premiums and deductibles, but it did not include delaying two tax cut measures that would benefit high income earners.⁵

In his testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Vought advocated for shrinking the federal government while increasing executive powers, including the power to impound funds―the authority to allow the executive branch (of which OMB is the lead component) to rescind congressionally approved funding for government agencies.⁶

During his first stint at OMB, the Government Accountability Office concluded that Vought’s office violated the Impoundment Control Act by refusing to release funds allocated by Congress.⁷ In fact, during confirmation hearings before the Senate Budget Committee this week, Vought expressed the opinion that the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act is unconstitutional. If confirmed, Vought would undoubtedly serve the Trump agenda by replacing Congress’ power of the purse with his own views on government spending, given his views that “we are living in a post-Constitutional time.”⁸

Having someone like Vought in such a critical role in our federal government threatens direct funding meant to protect and invest in our families and communities.

Send a message to your senators right now demanding they reject the nomination of Russell Vought as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Thank you for all you do,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, CHN Action

¹ Understanding OMB’s Role in Presidential Policymaking
² Trump loyalist pushes ‘post-Constitutional’ vision for second term
³ Democrats grill Project 2025 co-author over ‘illegal’ Trump funding move
⁴ Trump said he wouldn’t cut Medicaid, Social Security, and Medicare. His 2020 budget cuts all 3.
⁵ The House Republican Study Committee's Proposals to Offset the Costs of Hurricane Relief
⁶ Russell Vought Poised to Expand Power of White House Budget Office
⁷ Decision: Office of Management and Budget—Withholding of Ukraine Security Assistance
⁸ Renewing American Purpose