“WASHINGTON -- Russell Vought has been planning for this moment for years.
President Trump's budget chief -- one of the main players in the government shutdown that has ground Washington to a halt -- might also be one of its biggest beneficiaries, as the freeze gives him the opportunity to implement funding cuts he has long advocated.
On Wednesday, Vought, the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, was quick to target Democratic priorities and projects. In a move that affected Democratic Congressional leaders from New York, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Vought posted on X that a hold had been put on $18 billion in federal funds for New York City infrastructure work, including a Hudson River tunnel project and a subway extension.
The Transportation Department pinned the blame on the shutdown, saying a review of the projects' contracting policies and their relationship to diversity, equity and inclusion requirements couldn't move forward. "Without a budget, the department has been forced to furlough the civil rights staff responsible for conducting this review," the agency said in a statement.
Vought also posted that $8 billion in Energy Department funds for climate projects would be canceled in more than a dozen Democratic-leaning states. He didn't specify which projects would be affected.
Last week, he issued a memo directing federal agencies to craft plans for widespread layoffs in the event of a shutdown. Vought told House Republicans on a conference call Wednesday that layoffs likely would begin in another day or two, according to people on the call. While he didn't specify how many layoffs were in the pipeline, one person familiar with the call said Vought indicated it would be consequential.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.), a close Trump ally, predicted a shutdown might not last long, in part because of the specter of Vought. "This OMB guy, you need to watch him," Graham said. "I think he will try to wreak havoc on the workforce."
Vought "has been thinking for his entire life and career about how to downsize the government," House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) told The Wall Street Journal, adding that "he's acting very judiciously."
The extent to which Vought plans to follow through on his threat remains to be seen. Sen. Kevin Cramer (R., N.D.) said he thought it was more a negotiating tactic, but "no one should doubt Director Vought's willingness to carry out the threat. I know I don't."
Rep. Sean Casten (D., Ill.) said Vought was "threatening to fire federal employees for political reasons and without concern for the impact on the government."
Even before the shutdown, Vought has outraged Democrats -- and even some Republicans -- by pushing a policy known as "pocket rescissions," under which the executive branch asserts it has the right to withhold congressionally approved spending.
Vought's posture in theory puts pressure on Democrats demanding the restoration of healthcare spending in exchange for support for funding the government. They have taken a defiant stance so far, pointing to Vought's pocket rescissions as evidence the administration will move forward with cuts with or without Congress, causing them to doubt it will negotiate in good faith.
"Our response to Russ Vought is simple," Jeffries said. "Get lost."
A co-author of the conservative Project 2025, Vought is a veteran of the first Trump administration, when he also ran OMB, which acts as the budgetary and regulatory nerve center for the executive branch. He has been steeped in conservative causes for decades, working in Congress and later with Heritage Action, the lobbying affiliate of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
After President Joe Biden's election, Vought started the Center for Renewing America, a Washington think tank focused on taking steps to reorder the federal government. He spent the next four years working on potential executive actions and policies to rein in Washington's reach and cut spending -- policies he is now working to implement.
Vought is "very dedicated to the idea of shrinking the government, getting rid of federal employees, and he's really clever in finding a way to do that in any situation," said David Graham, author of "The Project: How Project 2025 Is Reshaping America."
Republicans say Democrats could be falling into a trap set by Vought. He is an "expert on how the system works," said Kevin Madden, a strategist who worked on the presidential campaigns of Republican Mitt Romney and former President George W. Bush.
Democrats say the administration, led by Trump and Vought, has shown it is willing to take extreme measures to bypass their agenda and their votes, leaving them with little option but to withhold the votes Republicans need to keep the government open.
"You have an appropriations process where the president can just turn around and say, I'll just do what I want to do," said Sharon Block, a professor at Harvard Law School who served at OMB in the Biden administration. That process, she said, "sits at Russ Vought's door."” [1]
1. U.S. News: Trump Budget Chief Seizes the Moment --- Vought is targeting Democratic projects and priorities for cuts during the shutdown. Patterson, Scott; Beavers, Olivia; Hughes, Siobhan. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 02 Oct 2025: A4.
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