Russell Vought: The Shadow President
Reporter Andy Kroll explains Vought’s rise from a congressional staffer to the man piloting everything from Trump's layoffs and agency closings to his shutdown strategy, controlling the fate of trillions of dollars and millions of federal workers.
[Lisa Riordan Seville, Andy Kroll, Katie Campbell and Mauricio Rodríguez Pons at ProPublica]
It’s exciting to see the newsroom where I work, ProPublica, publish more medium-form video.
On a meta-level, I think this is very well done — but it’s also an important story that I hope everyone will pay attention to.
As the newsroom explains:
“Over the past decade, this unassuming budget wonk and self-proclaimed Christian nationalist has quietly injected his ideas into the bloodstream of American politics. He was one of the chief architects of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 and said he spent much of 2024 drafting the executive orders, regulations and other plans to use in a second Trump presidency. Since returning as the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget in January, he has led the president’s effort to dismantle large swaths of the federal government.”
It’s worth your time and attention. You can watch the video here.
