by Jeff Childers
And just like that, another can of whoopy opened against the Swamp yesterday. Last night, the Washington Post ran an anguished story headlined, “Senate confirms Russell Vought to lead White House budget office.” After desperate Democrats pulled a Jolt cola-fueled all-nighter on the Senate floor Wednesday, crying about Vought’s pending confirmation vote, the Republican majority confirmed him yesterday anyway. Several career employees at OMB promptly resigned in protest. Rage quitters never win.
Article I gives Congress the sole constitutional power to approve federal spending. But it’s the Executive branch that actually signs the checks. So the Office of Management and Budget is America’s financial gatekeeper. Among other duties, OMB controls how and when agencies actually get the funds that Congress allocates, on a program-by-program basis.
You can see the potential. Under a controversial and long-debated theory called “impoundment,” the President can delay or even withhold Congressionally approved funds if he deems them wasteful, unconstitutional, or unnecessary. Mr. Vought could be said to be the Champion of the impoundment power.
It’s not Vought’s first rodeo. Late in his first term, President Trump finally confirmed Vought as OMB’s Director. He served for about six months, until Joe Biden infested the White House under a greasy black cloud of election irregularity. But now, like the budgetary Terminator, Russell Vought is back, fueling whole new nightmares for the Swamp causing it to toss and turn on its currency-stuffed pillow.
It’s way bigger than spreadsheets or wonky policy powers. Politico (ahem) ran the story under the affrighted headline, “Vought wants to dismantle the ‘deep state.’ As he takes office, it’s already happening.”
This week, intrepid online investigators exposed Politico, a British-owned media company that has slurped up millions of U.S. tax dollars by selling overpriced “subscriptions” to government agencies — at around $15K per year, per user. (A shocked and dismayed Politico defensively claimed, without evidence, that its special government newspaper is totally worth it, trust them.)
And so progressives are awakening from one nightmare to an even worse one featuring the terrifying power of the purse. The Trump Administration’s political velocity is off the charts. Not only that, but this demonstrates the new-media power of Twitter/X. Consider that after only two days of heated X discussions about Politico’s subscription grift, this Axios headline appeared yesterday:

Breaking news: layoffs coming soon to a Politico near you.
It wasn’t just Politico. Many other far-left corporate media, including Bloomberg and the New York Times, have been gorging themselves at the public trough. But it’s much bigger than just these media contracts.
Vought, Politico reported, is the architect of a “detailed plan for fundamentally reshaping the foundations of American government.” Faster, please. The new Director is also “one of Washington’s most strategic conservative minds capable of more effectively executing a vision to tear down the government this time around.”
Well, which is it? Is he reshaping the foundations or tearing down the government? Journalism like that clearly doesn’t deserve $15,000 subscriptions. But set that aside.
Progressives hissed angrily at Vought’s confirmation, like woke Nosferatu seeing a crucifix. They were horrified that Vought cheekily co-opted their slur and calls himself a “Christian Nationalist.” They blame him for breathing life into their ubiquitous nemesis, the left’s boogeyman “Project 2025,” which keeps popping up in the brains of Democrat politicians like moles in a cerebral whacking game.
An astonished Politico reported that Vought actually believes that America is “one nation under God.” Imagine.
It gets worse for them, much worse. Vought isn’t just aiming at government waste. Politico reported that the new Director sees “progressivism as a genuine, contemptible force that must be disempowered.” Democrats “view him as an existential threat to American democracy.” Well, their idea of democracy, anyway, like replacing their candidate in the middle of the night without asking voters. But again I digress.
Politico resentfully reported that Vought is “known to be mercurial, surgical and a provocateur — and above all a true believer of the conservative cause.” This alarms progressives because it is hard to co-opt a true believer. They much prefer fake believers of the conservative cause.
You can see why Vought is now the only Cabinet-level Trump 1.0 appointee to return to post. Though the controversial Director has obviously been working behind the scenes, he is now back in a role with real power, and he’s no quitter. Bad odds never flummoxed the wonky cost-cutter.
“When he’s not able to accomplish the president’s goals at first, he doesn’t surrender. He doubles down,” Politico quoted a Trump 1.0 official, who also told the reporter, “in the last administration various individuals would get stymied by their own bureaucracies and kind of just surrender to it. And that was extremely frustrating. Russ is not that way.”
Like Trump, Vought enjoyed a four-year holiday in which to calculate his current strategy. We can soon expect OMB fireworks, as the Democrats’ deranged response shows.
A new fear has been unlocked. It’s progressive’s Gremlins, Part 12. Russell Vought is about to pour water all over the cute little bureaucrats infesting the OMB offices.
Whether you agree or not America is one nation with a lot of views under God! What is wrong with budgetary oversight? If you disagree, I’m all ears.
Let the tail twisting begin.
“… Joe Biden infested the White House under a greasy black cloud of election irregularity.” I think you mean “election THEFT.”
Democrats won’t know whether to shit or go blind. Their weakness vis a vie their perceived power was demonstrated at the Department of Education this morning. This could get really GOOD.
For a long time unemployable gimmecrats have been gifted “jobs,” from their democrat elected officials.
These gimmecrats don’t do an honest days’ work, they can’t, they’re too dumb.
So, expect riots again when the weather is better suited for looting.
Elected dems might be in line for some legal woes if they get caught inciting their rabble.