Does Russ Vought Scare You?

Photo by Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Rock the Vought

Last night, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russ Vought, made a threat that in the event of a government shutdown next week, the administration would move to permanently fire employees across the federal government. Vought’s warning echoed through the Capitol, even though it followed a familiar pattern of manipulation.

Vought wrote that “it has never been more important for the Administration to be prepared for a shutdown if the Democrats choose to pursue one,” adding that “many core Trump Administration priorities will continue uninterrupted.

“Programs that did not benefit from an infusion of mandatory appropriations will bear the brunt of a shutdown, and we must continue our planning efforts in the event Democrats decide to shut down the government,” Vought continued. “If Congress successfully passes a clean CR prior to September 30, the additional steps outlined in this email will not be necessary.”

The way Vought’s memo entered the news cycle was a tell, with coordinated leaks to most of the major Capitol Hill–centric publications. Politico, Punchbowl News, and Axios all got the scoop together. This is a common tactic among Washington’s political operators who need to get a message to as many people in government as possible in a short window. In this way, the coordinated leak functions as an upscale press release.

Democrats on the Hill remember well the last government funding fight in March. Back then, party leadership in the Senate argued that a shutdown would give the executive branch even more power to chop away at the federal government than DOGE had already claimed for itself, and, for that reason, it was necessary to vote to keep the lights on.