President-elect Donald Trump has revealed that a key figure in his first administration will return to his post.
Russell Vought, who led the Office of Management and Budget during Trump’s first term, will hold the same position in the new administration.
“Russ has spent many years working in public policy in Washington, D.C., and is an aggressive cost cutter and deregulator who will help us implement our America First agenda across all agencies,” Trump wrote in a Nov. 22 statement, which was released minutes after he announced that Scott Bessent would lead the Department of the Treasury.
Vought took to X to thank Trump for getting him on aboard again.
Vought developed the Schedule F plan at the end of the first Trump administration, a key move as Trump sought to make it easier to fire or replace federal workers in executive branch agencies at the time.
The OMB is part of the Executive Office of the President.
“Russ knows exactly how to dismantle the Deep State and end Weaponized Government, and he will help us return Self Governance to the People,” Trump wrote in his statement on the pick.
Vought, 48, studied at Wheaton College, a Christian school, and George Washington University, where he earned his law degree.
He previously served as policy director for the House Republican Conference and in multiple roles for the Republican Study Committee. In addition, Vought was on the staff of Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas) and worked for Heritage Action for America, the political arm of conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation.
In 2017, he became deputy director of the OMB under Trump.
Vought succeeded Trump’s first OMB director, Mick Mulvaney, in 2019.
After leaving the White House, Vought launched the Center for Renewing America, a think tank that has employed numerous Trump administration veterans—from Environmental Protection Agency liaison Micah Meadowcroft to Jeff Clark, who was assistant attorney general for the civil division of the Department of Justice during the first Trump administration.
Vought also authored the chapter on the Executive Office of the President for Project 2025’s “Mandate for Leadership.” In it, he said that a conservative president must ensure that the agencies in the executive branch carry out the president’s plans rather than attempting to thwart them, outlining specific tactics and strategies to reinforce that Constitutional authority.