Sunday Issues-June 1, 2025

Director Vought grabs another chunk of the Legislative Branch

OMB Director Vought. White House photo via Wikimedia.

Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought may be the most important member of President Trump’s cabinet or, for that matter, his entire administration. But if you bumped into him in the grocery store, you are unlikely to notice him. He doesn’t talk like RFK, Jr., lacks the tattoos and attention to his hair of Defense Secretary Hegseth and Trump (because Vought is bald), and isn’t on TV much.

But without Vought, Trump might be spending even more time playing golf than he does. And the assault on the federal government, sometimes credited to Elon Musk, likely would not have happened.

And, if you are curious how a president described as a rapist by a federal judge, whose idea of culture is the Ultimate Fighting Chapionship and the Village People, made it his business to “remake” the Smithsonian Institution, Kennedy Center, and American Universities, you might start by looking into Mr. Vought’s bio.

The 49-year-old OMB director is a Christian Nationalist and a major contributor to the infamous Project 2025 roadmap adopted by Trump for his second term. The project laid out action steps to “infuse the government and American society with Christian values.” The means outlined for achieving this goal is the consolidation of governmental power in the Executive Branch.

If the American movement towards right-wing autocracy has a brain, it is Mr. Vought.

Circumventing Congress

Mr. Vought sees the Legislative Branch—Congress—as an obstacle to implementing his vision for a federal government that does less for Americans. This may be because Vought sees a government that feeds hungry children, provides health care to those who cannot afford it, and promotes racial equality and equity as something other than Christian.

With the full cooperation of the President, Vought conceived of an administration that would enact as much of the Project 2025 agenda as possible through executive orders. There have been 157 so far, and some of them could have been written in 1930s Berlin. Entire federal agencies, established in laws passed by Congress, have been abolished, independent agencies stripped of their independence, and books removed from libraries.

My favorite Executive Order is the one banning paper straws. If you asked me to name one of Trump’s EOs that he came up with (as opposed to writing) himself, the straw EO would be it. One day, the original will be on display in either the Smithsonian or the National Archives, assuming, of course, that both still exist by the time Trump leaves office.

But I digress. We are discussing Mr. Vought and his disdain for Congress. So let’s get to the point. Vought used the Congressional Budget Act, which specifies the timetable for the Executive Branch to submit a federal budget to Congress, as a doormat. Vought ignored deadlines and sent Congress a “skinny budget,” which was a document that made clear Trump wanted to shrink government but omitted the details necessary for Congress to know how.

When the details of a proposal are not known, it is harder to criticize it. Just ask Hakeem Jeffries.

Americans, after seeing Elon Musk dance with a chainsaw and reading about federal workers being fired by the thousands, were aware that the administration was planning to “reduce” government. They did not need or read a “skinny budget,” and neither did Congressional Republicans. House Speaker Mike Johnson sees his role as facilitating the implementation of Trump America. Not partnering in creating it. Period.

Mr. Vought, with the endorsement of Trump no meaningful complaints from House or Senate Republicans, is circumventing Congress. The “Big Beautiful Bill” or BBB, which, in its House iteration, increases the federal debt by over $3.8 trillion over ten years, was put together by Mr. Vought and others in the Trump administration with very little input from Congress. And, of course, much of the policy reflected in the BBB was implemented before any discussion with or endorsement by Congress, including Republicans.

But Congress has not been entirely AWOL. The GAO, now known as the Government Accountability Office, has been challenging many of Trump's actions, questioning whether they are consistent with federal law. And because the GAO is a Legislative Branch agency, Trump has not been able to abolish it or fire its leadership.

Mr. Vought has been the recipient of numerous information requests from the GAO. He has become tired of responding to them. So, this week, he announced that he was “decreasing cooperation” with the GAO. Citing OMB’s limited resources, Vought plans to deny Congress much of the information it needs to determine whether the Executive Branch is obeying the laws it passes.

Vought’s actions, fully supported by President Trump, who is primarily occupied with golf, pardons, and his wallet, are alarming.

Mr. Vought appears receptive to a Christian National dictatorship. Who needs Congress, anyway?

The issue of the week is why Congress isn’t doing more to fight back.

If Congress continues to acquiesce in Trump’s grabs of legislative authority, its irrelevancy and impotence will increase. It will lose the little credibility it has remaining. And could we hear Trump tell the American people that we no longer need a Congress? And could he somehow seek to kill the Legislative Branch altogether?

Thank you.

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