FALSE PROPHET

In 2017, during President Trump’s first administration, Vought helped implement an executive order to reorganize the federal government. The effort included proposals to cut funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, as well as reorganizing programs such as food stamps and the Department of Health and Human Services.

Vought also worked to cut funding for Meals on Wheels and unsuccessfully attempted to cut funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program and USAID’s Ebola response. He later published a memo directing OMB to cancel contracts that included training on what the administration characterized as “anti-American propaganda,” including critical race theory and white privilege.

During the Biden administration, Vought continued building his influence outside of government. In 2021, he founded the Center for Renewing America, a conservative think tank whose mission is to be the “tip of the America First spear” and to “renew a consensus that America is a nation under God.”

At the Center, Vought directed efforts to oppose critical race theory and promote conservative legislation at the state level. The organization's proposed policies include invoking the Insurrection Act to deploy military forces against U.S. citizens, freezing billions of dollars in federal funding without congressional approval, and carrying out mass firings of federal workers. Many of these ideas and policies would later become central to the Trump administration’s second-term agenda.

Vought’s influence expanded even further with Project 2025, the sweeping conservative policy blueprint published ahead of the 2024 presidential election. As one of its primary architects, Vought helped shape the project’s vision for a dramatically smaller federal government and a more powerful presidency. He was also responsible for drafting the “transition playbook” used by the Trump administration during its first six months in office.

Under Vought’s leadership, many of the policies outlined in Project 2025 were implemented, including efforts to hollow out the federal government, eliminate civil rights protections, and gut federal aid programs.

More recently, Vought used his position at OMB to exert control over federal funding. He announced that the White House withheld billions of dollars in federal grants from Democratic-led states “based solely” on how those states voted in 2024. Congress had already approved these grants. Under Vought’s leadership, billions of dollars in funding for projects in states that voted Republican were allowed to move forward while funding elsewhere was withheld.

Vought’s political influence is not separate from his religious ideology. Throughout his career, he has openly embraced Christian nationalism and advocated for a government shaped by his particular interpretation of Christianity.

In a Newsweek piece titled “Is There Anything Actually Wrong with Christian Nationalism?,” Vought argued that the United States should be recognized as a Christian nation in which “rights and duties are understood to come from God.” In a conversation with undercover reporters from the Centre for Climate Reporting, Vought described his views this way:

“My viewpoint is mostly that I would probably be Christian nation-ism. That’s pretty close to Christian nationalism because I also believe in nationalism.”

Vought has also faced criticism for his comments about people of other faiths. In a 2017 blog post, he wrote:

"Muslims do not simply have a deficient theology, they do not know God because they have rejected Jesus Christ his Son, and they stand condemned."

Taken together, Vought’s political record and religious ideology offer a clear picture of the vision he is working to advance: a federal government dramatically reshaped around conservative Christian nationalist principles, with fewer protections and fewer resources for people and communities he believes do not fit within that vision.

For Christians who believe our faith calls us to care for the vulnerable, welcome the stranger, protect our neighbors, and seek the flourishing of all people, Vought’s vision represents a profound distortion of Jesus' teachings. He wields the language of Christianity while advancing policies that leave vulnerable communities at risk and weaken the public institutions designed to serve them.

Russel Vought is a 2026 False Prophet.

“...once stripped of its superimposed liberal scar tissue, "Christian nationalism" is actually a rather benign and useful description for those who believe in both preserving our country's Judeo-Christian heritage and making public policy decisions that are best for this country.” -Russell Vought