Nov 22, 2024 - Politics & Policy

Trump selects Project 2025 contributor Russ Vought to run OMB

Erin Doherty

Russ Vought, former director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), speaks during a panel discussion at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida, U.S., on Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021. — Russ Vought speaks during a panel discussion at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Fla., on Feb. 28, 2021. Photo: Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images

President-elect Trump announced Friday that he is naming Russ Vought to serve as director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Why it matters: OMB, which Vought also led during Trump's first term in the White House, is the government's central regulatory gatekeeper, exerting significant influence over the executive branch's agenda, which includes developing the president's budget request.

Vought is a close Trump ally and prominent contributor to Project 2025, the conservative blueprint for governance.

Driving the news: "He did an excellent job serving in this role in my First Term - We cut four Regulations for every new Regulation, and it was a Great Success!" Trump said in a Truth Social post.

The big picture: Vought, who has had an active role in Trump transition efforts, had already met with Senate Republicans earlier this year on government funding.

Vought was confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 51-45.

Zoom in: Vought wrote a section in the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 on the Executive Office.

In the section, he described OMB as the "air-traffic control system with the ability and charge to ensure that all policy initiatives are flying in sync and with the authority to let planes take off and, at times, ground planes that are flying off course."

Go deeper: Scoop: Trump ally urges Senate GOP to punt funding fight to 2025

Editor's note: The story has been updated to correct the spelling of Russ Vought's name.

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Trump selects Project 2025 contributor Russ Vought to run OMB

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