Russell Vought has signaled he hopes to slash spending — and push the limits of presidential power to achieve Trump’s agenda.

President Trump's pick to lead the Office of Management and Budget faced a tough grilling from Democratic lawmakers on the Senate Budget Committee on Wednesday.

If Russell Vought is confirmed as Office of Management and Budget director, he will continue to enact and accelerate the radical, sweeping agenda he began to implement in that same position during the final two years of the first Trump administration.

Russell Vought, President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget, promised to help American taxpayers while undergoing a contentious confirmation hearing on Wednesday.

Vought was OMB director during Trump’s first term. He already had a hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Russell Vought, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be the next director of the Office of Management and Budget, faced tough questioning from Democrats.

Vought, a co-author of Project 2025 who served as budget director in Donald Trump's first term, has signaled he will take a more aggressive approach to helping the president-elect carry out his agenda of shrinking the federal government.

Russell Vought, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be director of the Office of Management and Budget, testifies during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

If confirmed, Mr. Vought will be at the center of President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to upend the federal bureaucracy.

The Senate’s confirmation hearing of Russell Vought, one of Washington’s staunchest advocates for cutting spending, offered a preview Wednesday of the bruising spending wars likely to consume

Trump's pick to lead the Office of Management and Budget refused to answer questions about his chilling vision for an even more powerful White House.

Russell Vought, President Donald Trump’s nominee for director of the Office of Management and Budget, will testify before Congress for the second time. Since the first, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) met with Vought and released a statement disagreeing with the nomination.