Russell Vought


Russell Thurlow Vought is an American government official who has served as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget since July 2020.

Education

Vought earned his Bachelor of Arts from Wheaton College and his Juris Doctor from the George Washington University Law School.

Career

Vought served for seven years as the vice president of Heritage Action. He has also served as the executive director and budget director of the Republican Study Committee, as the policy director for the Republican Conference of the United States House of Representatives, and as a legislative assistant for U.S. Senator Phil Gramm.
In April 2017, President Trump nominated Vought to be Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget. He was confirmed by the Senate on February 28, 2018, in a 50–49 vote. Vice President Mike Pence cast the tie-breaking vote.
In 2015, Vought's alma mater, Wheaton College – an evangelical Christian institution – suspended Larycia Hawkins, a tenured professor, because she stated that Muslims worship the same God as Christians. This sparked a debate in the Wheaton community regarding how Christian theology should understand Islam and its relationship to salvation. In January 2016, Vought weighed in on this theological debate in a blog post in which he stated, "Muslims do not simply have a deficient theology. They do not know God because they have rejected Jesus Christ his Son, and they stand condemned." During the confirmation hearings for Vought's nomination to the Office of Management and Budget, Senator Bernie Sanders questioned him about this statement. The Atlantic magazine and various Christian organizations denounced Sanders' questioning as a violation of the No Religious Test Clause.
On January 2, 2019, when Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney became Acting White House Chief of Staff, Vought became the acting OMB director, though Mulvaney continued to hold the director position.
On March 18, 2020, President Trump announced his intent to nominate him to be Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Vought was confirmed by the Senate on July 20; he was sworn in two days later.