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

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...

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...

“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

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...

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

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.

“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...

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...

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...

“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

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...

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...

🚨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...

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...

🚨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...

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:

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

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...

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

"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-...

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

👋 Whether it’s via truck or @wmata.com train, we mean it when we say: *We want to meet people where they are.* Current and former federal workers.: Reach out at 917-512-0201 on Signal or propublica.org/tips 👇

A good ad on the DC Metro

As @andykroll.bsky.social previously reported, a senior IRS attorney warned officials in February that using “performance” failures to justify the mass firings was “false,” because the administration hadn't conducted any assessments to make such a judgment.

And yet NatCon declined my request for a press pass to cover Vought’s speech 👀

"One could make the argument we should have sided with Hitler," a guest told Tucker Carlson's podcast last month. Yair Rosenberg writes about the MAGA influencers who want to rehabilitate the Nazi leader—and what they hope to gain by doing so.

BTW y'all if you know or work with Russ Vought, you should contact my buddy @andykroll.bsky.social....

Russ Vought at work...

NEW: The Texas Redistricting Fight Has Been the Testing Ground for the Trump Administration’s Latest Legal Strategy, w/ @texastribune.org

Do you work at the Office of Management and Budget? Do you know someone who does? Are you a current or former federal worker with information that you can share about Russell Vought? If the answer to any of these is "yes," please contact @andykroll.bsky.social www.propublica.org/tips/

Yes please!

One year ago, we published 14 hours of Project 2025's "Presidential Administration Academy" training videos. Watching these clips back now, you can see how Trump 2.0 is deploying the PJ2025 playbook.

"I hear [Swift's] songs as poetry; the music’s job is just to help get it across. And that’s what I hear when I listen to Springsteen: I hear poetry, and I hear Americans’ love of it." Springsteen Isn’t Who I Thought He Was www.nytimes.com/2025/08/07/o...

UPDATE: I have the attention of Russ Vought's spokesperson at OMB. Check out the exchange below. I guess now I *am* curious what his dog's name is?? @propublica.org

Thank you, little tortoise 🐢

Thank you. And no, you're not a "nobody," cmon now!

Last fall, @propublica.org and @documented.net broke the story that Russell Vought, Trump’s current budget chief, said he planned to put career civil servants “in trauma.” Now, we're investigating the full extent of Vought's impact on the federal government. We need your help… 🧵 1/

Russ Vought played soccer at Wheaton College. (Go Thunder.) Didn't think this would be my first post on my return from mini-parental leave. Such are the times in which we live. Speaking of Vought — watch this space soon...

Eye-opening follow-up story here: N.H. jury acquits consultant behind AI robocalls mimicking Biden on all charges www.wbur.org/news/2025/06...

“I like singing, and I like ice cream,” Skye Yang, 7, said as she headed toward the exit. “That’s why I’m here.” Meet the kids who audition for the Met Opera’s Children’s Chorus. A lighter read for your Sunday morning. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/11/a...

The first known detention by the US Marines in their recent Los Angeles deployment is of... a US Army veteran on his way to an office at the Department of Veteran Affairs building. www.reuters.com/world/us/us-...

“What does a human slowly going insane look like to a corporation?” Mr. Yudkowsky asked in an interview. “It looks like an additional monthly user.” A completely absorbing and chilling read: www.nytimes.com/2025/06/13/t...

!!!! "In a previously unreported development, federal agents came to suspect that Bukele and members of his inner circle had diverted U.S. aid funds to the (MS-13) gang..."

Trump hailed El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele, as a crime fighter for taking on the MS-13 gang. New @propublica.org reporting shows that senior Bukele officials repeatedly impeded the work of a U.S. task force investigating MS-13. Big scoop here: www.propublica.org/article/buke...