President Trump Appoints Budget Hawk Russell Vought to Lead DOGE After Musk Exit
President Donald J. Trump has tapped his top fiscal expert, Russell Vought, to take the reins at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), filling the void left by Elon Musk’s departure from the aggressive government-cutting initiative.
Vought, currently Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, is expected to spearhead a bold overhaul of the federal bureaucracy. His new responsibilities will include reclassifying entrenched federal employees, reclaiming wasted taxpayer funds, and executing President Trump’s transformative 2025 budget plan — a blueprint for slashing bloated government programs.
A key figure behind Project 2025, Vought has already made waves in Washington. The plan, which seeks to dramatically restructure the federal government, has been derided by Democrats as a threat to their bureaucratic stronghold. But to conservatives, it’s a long-overdue roadmap to restoring fiscal sanity and accountability.
Vought’s resume includes leading the Trump administration’s charge to dismantle burdensome federal regulations. He championed Trump’s hallmark policy: eliminate 10 regulations for every new one imposed — a standard that reinvigorated the free market and unleashed economic growth.
Though some in the media have attempted to link Trump to every detail of Project 2025, the President has publicly distanced himself from certain sections of the proposal — even as many of its principles align with his administration's broader goals of restoring constitutional order and limiting federal overreach.
Still, Vought remains committed to realigning the federal government with America First values. He’s expected to follow through on Musk’s hard-nosed agency cuts, which, despite sparking resistance from entrenched bureaucrats and left-wing activists, are seen by many as necessary to end waste and corruption in Washington.
Following President Trump’s February executive order calling on federal agencies to rescind “unlawful rules,” DOGE is now primed to focus its efforts on dismantling the regulatory leviathan.
Central to Vought’s plan is Schedule F, a Trump-era executive order originally signed during the President’s first term. It removes career protections for politicized, high-level bureaucrats who have long resisted the will of elected leadership. Although the Biden administration halted it, Trump reinstated the order upon returning to the White House in January.
LINK: https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1937978900434268288
Vought is also leading the charge on a $9.3 billion rescission package aimed at cutting taxpayer funding to progressive institutions like PBS, NPR, the State Department, and USAID. The proposal reflects the administration’s commitment to eliminating leftist propaganda from government-backed media.
However, Vought’s rigorous cost-cutting efforts have drawn fire from within his own party. A rift has emerged between Vought and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who had previously assured GOP lawmakers that military funding would increase.
Vought, in contrast, is holding the line on fiscal responsibility. His plan preserves current military spending levels but proposes future increases through the reconciliation process rather than the conventional budget route — a strategic move to prevent Democrats from exploiting “parity” demands, which would tie defense spending hikes to equal increases in domestic spending.
His first proposed budget under Trump’s second term called for a $163 billion cut to non-defense discretionary spending, while allocating approximately $120 billion in additions via reconciliation to uphold national defense and targeted investments.
This approach, while controversial among establishment Republicans, ensures conservative priorities are funded without giving Democrats a blank check for social programs.