Russell Vought

Russell Thurlow Vought ( VOHT; born March 26, 1976) is an American political advisor who has served as the director of the Office of Management and Budget since February 2025. Vought has additionally served as the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from February 2025 to August 2026 and as the acting administrator of the United States Agency for International Development from August to November 2025. He served as the Office of Management and Budget's director from 2020 to 2021 and as its deputy director, as well as its acting director, from 2018 to 2020. Vought graduated from Wheaton College with a degree in history and political science and later from the George Washington University Law School with a Juris Doctor in 2004. While attending Wheaton, he interned for several lawmakers, including Texas senator Phil Gramm, whose views on deficits influenced Vought. After graduating from George Washington University, Vought worked for the Republican Study Committee. In December 2008, Indiana representative Mike Pence, the chairman of the House Republican Conference, named Vought as the conference's policy director. Vought clashed with Republican leadership in the House of Representatives over government spending. He resigned following the passage of the Affordable Care Act in March 2010 to establish Heritage Action for America, an advocacy organization, with Michael Needham. Following Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 presidential election, Vought was offered a position as a senior advisor in the Office of Management and Budget. In April 2017, Trump named Vought as his nominee for deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget. He was confirmed by the Senate in February 2018, with vice president Mike Pence casting a tie-breaking vote. Vought and Mick Mulvaney, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, sought to significantly cut social programs and international aid....