Russell Vought: The Shadow President ProPublica

[ihaveaquestion]

Russell Vought is one of the most powerful people in the Trump administration. For almost three decades, he worked in Congress and held prominent roles at conservative think tanks. But he was little known outside of political circles. He’s now the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget and the chief architect of President Donald Trump’s campaign to radically reduce the size of the federal bureaucracy.

In this video, ProPublica reporter Andy Kroll tells the story of Vought’s rise from a young staffer for Texas Sen. Phil Gramm to his role as the driving force behind Trump’s plan to dismantle the so-called “administrative state.” Vought declined to be interviewed. Kroll’s account is drawn from dozens of interviews, thousands of pages of documents and hours of videos and recordings of Vought’s briefings to supporters, including one where Vought says he wanted to put federal workers “in trauma.”

Read Kroll’s profile of Vought, co-published with The New Yorker: https://propub.li/497DlMk

[BOSSHOG]

1. Pure Evil human and just as significantly

a run of the mill hater of our country. A dime a dozen conservative. Live and breathes on selfishness.

[valleyrogue]

2. Not a "conservative."

This word does NOT describe the fascistic, radical right and never did. "Conservatism" has basically died out in the U.S.

The fascists call themselves "conservatives" in order to make their vile ideas mainstream. They are not out to "conserve" anything but to destroy everything at the behest of their zillionaire backers.

The word "conservative" needs to be tossed into the trash bin as an archaic word. It has no realistic meaning in American politics.

Russell Vought is a dime-a-dozen fascist who fancies himself as a "libertarian," another word that needs to be tossed into the trash bin. Vought is the worst of the worst and needs to be run out of town on a rail, deported, or imprisoned as a traitor against the U.S.

[intheflow]

3. He's only one of several shadow presidents.

Miller, Homan, Noem, pretty much anyone but Trump. He’s only a figurehead.