Andy Kroll

YouTube video by ProPublica Russell Vought: The Shadow President

ProPublica’s @andykroll.bsky.social spent months chronicling Russ Vought’s rise from the Senate mailroom to one of the most influential players in the current Trump administration, where he has tried to fulfill his desire to put federal workers “in trauma.”

1/ I’d like to share what’s happened since Sept. 30, the night of the most dramatic raid of the Trump administration’s Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago. Under the cover of darkness, 37 immigrants were taken from an apartment complex …🧵

Russell Vought, Trump’s Shadow President From the wholesale gutting of federal agencies to the ongoing government shutdown, Russell Vought has drawn the road map for Trump’s second term. Vought has consolidated power to an extent that…

Russ Vought set out to ensure a second Trump term would not be hampered by checks and balances: “I don’t want President Trump having to lose a moment of time having fights in the Oval Office about whether something is legal or doable or moral.”

By @andykroll.bsky.social, with @newyorker.com

Who's the man behind President Trump's dismantling of the federal government? In a New Yorker article co-published with ProPublica, reporter Andy Kroll describes Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, as a "shadow president" with oversized influence.

NEW: I spoke with the inestimable Terry Gross (!) on @nprfreshair.bsky.social about my year-long investigation of Russ Vought, the "shadow president" of Trump's second presidency.

Listen here: www.npr.org/2025/10/30/n...

Citing Trump Order on “Biological Truth,” VA Makes It Harder for Male Veterans With Breast Cancer to Get Coverage A Department of Veterans Affairs memo obtained by ProPublica erects new roadblocks to care for veterans with the rare but deadly cancer. The agency cites no new science but relies on an executive orde...

SCOOP

The admin is making it harder for male vets w/ breast cancer to get their care covered

The admin cites Trump order: “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government”

I got the memo laying it all out

www.propublica.org/article/vete...

What You Should Know About Russ Vought, Trump’s Shadow President Vought is the architect of President Trump’s broader plan to fire civil servants, freeze government programs and dismantle entire agencies. Here are some key things to know about the D.C. insider who ...

“If you’re watching television and the words ‘woke and weaponized’ come out of a politician’s mouth, you can know that this is coming ... from the strategies we’re putting out,” Vought boasted in a recording obtained by ProPublica.

By @andykroll.bsky.social

YouTube video by ProPublica Russell Vought: The Shadow President

I obtained ~dozens of hours~ of previously unreported recordings of Russ Vought's briefings from 2021 to 2024.

Want to hear the recordings yourself? Watch @propublica.org's
new mini-documentary about Vought 👇

THE SHADOW PRESIDENT www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1Lu...

Russell Vought, Trump's Shadow President From the wholesale gutting of federal agencies to the ongoing government shutdown, Russell Vought has drawn the road map for Trump's second term. Vought has consolidated power to an extent that insiders say they feel like “he is the commander in chief.”

While Elon Musk brandished the DOGE buzzsaw, insiders saw Russ Vought’s prints on DOGE’s actions.

“I can’t imagine that the DOGE team knew to target all these little parts of the government without Russ pointing them there,” a former official said.

By @andykroll.bsky.social

Donald Trump’s Deep-State Wrecking Ball Russell Vought is using the White House budget office to lay waste to the federal bureaucracy—firing workers, decimating agencies, and testing the rule of law.

NEW: When Russ Vought told Trump in 2021 about his new plan to keep MAGA going, the president asked him to find a way for conservatives to push back against Black Lives Matter.

“This was an assignment I was given from President Trump,” Vought later recalled. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Thx for joining the AMA. As I said there, I interviewed *and* quoted current + former CFPBers (see the part that begins, “Current and former CFPB staff told me…”).

The story doesn’t say the agency is permanently closed. It describes Vought et al’s actions so far, quotes Chopra’s “coma” comment.

Russell Vought, Trump’s Shadow President From the wholesale gutting of federal agencies to the ongoing government shutdown, Russell Vought has drawn the road map for Trump’s second term. Vought has consolidated power to an extent that inside...

“We work for the president of the United States,” a senior agency official who deals with OMB told me.

But right now, “it feels like we work for Russ Vought. He has centralized decision-­making power to an extent that he is the commander in chief.” www.propublica.org/article/russ...

Thanks, man. You guys have been doing great work at WaPo...

Russell Vought, Trump’s Shadow President From the wholesale gutting of federal agencies to the ongoing government shutdown, Russell Vought has drawn the road map for Trump’s second term. Vought has consolidated power to an extent that inside...

A career official answered: Less humanitarian aid would mean more people would die.

“You could say that about any of these cuts,” Russ Vought replied.

A person familiar with the meeting described his reaction as “blasé.” www.propublica.org/article/russ...

Donald Trump’s Deep-State Wrecking Ball Russell Vought is using the White House budget office to lay waste to the federal bureaucracy—firing workers, decimating agencies, and testing the rule of law.

After Russ Vought experienced the chaotic failures of Trump’s 1st term, he made it his mission to ensure that a second Trump term would not “lose a moment of time having fights in the Oval Office about whether something is legal or doable or moral.”

My latest👇 www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Russell Vought, Trump’s Shadow President From the wholesale gutting of federal agencies to the ongoing government shutdown, Russell Vought has drawn the road map for Trump’s second term. Vought has consolidated power to an extent that inside...

“A career official answered: Less humanitarian aid would mean more people would die.

‘You could say that about any of these cuts,’ Vought replied.

A person familiar with the ­meeting described his reaction as ‘blasé.’”
www.propublica.org/article/russ... @andykroll.bsky.social

Russell Vought, Trump’s Shadow President From the wholesale gutting of federal agencies to the ongoing government shutdown, Russell Vought has drawn the road map for Trump’s second term. Vought has consolidated power to an extent that inside...

On Russ Vought's Christian Faith: “It always struck me as a strange thing,” the person said. “There’s compassion, but it only extends to certain people.”
@propublica.org @andykroll.bsky.social www.propublica.org/article/russ...

Graphic with text that reads: Reddit AMA with Andy Kroll. Ask us questions about how Trump budget chief Russell Vought became his “shadow president.” Wednesday, Oct. 22, 6 p.m. ET. Join us in: r/fednews.

How did Trump’s “shadow president” Russ Vought execute his vision of dismantling the government and putting bureaucrats “in trauma”?

On Wednesday, Oct. 22 at 6 p.m. ET, join our reporter @andykroll.bsky.social for a Reddit AMA about Vought’s playbook: www.reddit.com/r/fednews/co...

Thank you!

Who Is Russell Vought? How a Little-Known D.C. Insider Became Trump’s Dismantler-in-Chief Reporter Andy Kroll explains Vought’s rise from a congressional staffer to the man piloting everything from Trump's layoffs and agency closings to his shutdown strategy, controlling the fate of trilli...

🚨WATCH/SHARE: A new @propublica.org short documentary about how Russell Vought became Trump’s “shadow president.”

See for yourself newly unearthed video and audio of Vought laying his plans and his worldview like never before. www.propublica.org/article/vide...

Donald Trump’s Deep-State Wrecking Ball Russell Vought is using the White House budget office to lay waste to the federal bureaucracy—firing workers, decimating agencies, and testing the rule of law.

A really good and timely piece from @andykroll.bsky.social that dives deep into Russ Vought, a key architect of Trump's destruction of the constitutional order: www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Donald Trump’s Deep-State Wrecking Ball Russell Vought is using the White House budget office to lay waste to the federal bureaucracy—firing workers, decimating agencies, and testing the rule of law.

🚨NEW: After we revealed Russ Vought's "put them in trauma" video, I spent the next year reporting on him, his influence, and his vision for America.

Yes, I got *new* recordings & videos of Vought.

Here is the story.

A @propublica.org + @newyorker.com collab: www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days. The government does not track how often immigration agents grab citizens. So ProPublica did. Our tally — almost certainly incomplete — includes people who were held for days without a lawyer. And near...

Justice Brett Kavanaugh: “If the officers learn that the individual they stopped is a U.S. citizen...they promptly let the individual go."

The reality: Americans have been dragged, tackled, beaten, tased and shot by immigration agents.

A must read from the very talented @nicolefoy.bsky.social:

More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days. The government does not track how often immigration agents grab citizens. So ProPublica did. Our tally — almost certainly incomplete — includes people who were held for days without a lawyer. And near...

BREAKING from PP

We found immigration agents have held more than 170 *citizens*

The govt doesn't track citizens held. So we did. We tallied:

Nearly 20 kids, two w/ cancer

More than 20 citizens held for day or more, incommunicado

www.propublica.org/article/immi...

by @nicolefoy.bsky.social

Elon Musk’s SpaceX Took Money Directly From Chinese Investors, Company Insider Testifies The newly unsealed testimony marks the first time direct Chinese investment in the company has been disclosed, raising new questions about foreign ownership interests in one of America’s most importan...

NEW: Elon Musk’s SpaceX has taken money directly from Chinese investors, according to newly unsealed testimony. It's the first time direct Chinese investment in the defense contractor has been disclosed. www.propublica.org/article/elon...

there are thousands of federal staffers with stories to tell. share yours. propublica.org/tips

Exciting news! The second @propublica.org metro ad on @wmata.com has been spotted in the wild on a metro car!

There are thousands of federal staffers with stories to tell. Share yours.

propublica.org/tips

‘Protect Empathy at All Costs. And Live Groovy Lives.’ Jim Jarmusch on what’s paying his bills these days and the words he lives by.

"He stopped at my door and looked me in the eye, and I’ll never, ever forget this. I repeated it recently. He said, 'Jim, our job is to protect empathy at all costs, and to live groovy lives.'"

This Jim Jarmusch interview by @bilgeebiri.bsky.social goes places: www.vulture.com/article/jim-...

How to Contact ProPublica or Send a Tip Securely — ProPublica Our job is to hold people and institutions accountable. To do that, we need evidence.

8/ If you have tips about new ICE enforcement tactics in courts, my colleagues and I want to hear from you. Reach out to me on Signal (tilleckert.90) or via
propublica.org/tips.

1/ I’m Till Eckert, a ProPublica reporter. For the past 2 weeks, I’ve been going to the same NY immigration courthouse.

Nearly every time, I see ICE agents arresting immigrants. Today, a woman was slammed to the ground after begging officials not to take her husband away.

Thread 👇

Now here’s a bonkers scoop

The People Who Are Still Convinced Kamala Won The left is dabbling in 2024-election-fraud theories.

The People Who Are Still Convinced Kamala Won

The left is dabbling in 2024-election-fraud theories.

Good stuff from @dgraham.bsky.social in the @theatlantic.com

www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...