By Maria Ortiz
Nov 22, 2024, 8:26 PM EST
Russ Voughtone of the architects of the controversial Conservative plan to reform the government known as Project 2025, has been chosen to lead the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB)announced the president-elect donald trump on Friday night.
“Russ has spent many years working in Public Policy in Washington, DC, and is an aggressive cost cutter and deregulator who will help us implement our America First Agenda across all Agencies,” Trump said in a statement.
“Russ knows exactly how to dismantle the Deep State and end Armed Government, and he will help us return Self-Government to the People,” Trump said.
The OMB, which Vought also led during Trump’s first term in the White House, is the central regulatory guardian of the governmentexerting significant influence over the executive branch agenda, including the development of the president’s budget request.
Trump had sought to distance himself from Project 2025 during his campaign, saying he did not know who created it and that It had nothing to do with his agenda for a second term.
Vought was the budget director in Trump’s first term and pushed to restructure the federal civil service by creating a new class of federal employees known as Schedule F.
He has said that public officials who work in the government (people who are not political appointees) They must be loyal to the president and not to the institutions for which they work.
He has long pushed for limit the independence of federal agencies and ending protections given to thousands of people who work as federal employees, part of what Trump and his allies have called the “deep state.”
At OMB, Vought will work with the owner of X and Tesla, Elon Muskand former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to carry out Trump’s campaign promise to cut government spending and regulations.
With the selection of Vought, the president-elect has already appointed several former aides with ties to Project 2025 to key roles in the administration.
President-elect Donald Trump also chose Friday to Scott Bessent as Secretary of the Treasurynaming a billionaire hedge fund manager to lead an economic agenda expected to be built around raising tariffs and cutting taxes.
As part of a series of Friday night announcements, Trump also said that Dr. Dave Weldon, former congressman from Florida, was his choice to be director of the Centers for Control and Disease Prevention (CDC).
Trump has also chosenRep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon as his Secretary of Labor. She has the support of influential unions such as the Teamsters and has encountered opposition from some business groups for her support of expanded labor rights.
Keep reading:
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• Linda McMahon, Trump’s nominee to head Education, was sued for allowing the sexual abuse of minors