Millions of Americans this week found out what it means to have Russell Vought, the nominee for director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), in Donald Trump’s White House. The pause on federal grants that Trump issued Tuesday, which sent panic spasming through the country as schools, government programs, and charitable organizations ceased to function, is being credited to Vought and Project 2025, the right-wing policy blueprint he’s considered the architect of.
Vought’s Trump-aligned think tank, the Center for Renewing America (CRA), has repeatedly advanced the view that the president can pause federally mandated funding or even refuse to spend it through “impoundment.” (Each of those…