Fight back!
"Use your voice!" -- Patti Smith, People have the Power
While the President and his cadre of ghouls suck up most of the available outrage space, Russ Vought quietly and methodically continues his long-running project to radically change the structure and functioning of the federal government. The damage he’s doing is profound and will be very difficult to correct.
Name doesn’t ring a bell? I’m not surprised. He likes to stay out of the news, but he is one of the most powerful, and arguably the most dangerous, of the senior members of the Trump administration. Unlike the camera hungry incompetents filling out Trump’s cabinet, he is very smart, very focused, and very determined. He’s been at this for a long time. Russ served as Director of the Office of Management and Budget during the first Trump debacle, and spent the Biden years raising money and overseeing the development of Project 2025. Now he’s back at OMB, working very hard to implement the Project’s recommendations. From that perch he oversees who gets hired and appointed to positions throughout the government and sets the rules for how the government spends our money.
Most recently, he has proposed revisions to the regulations governing how federal grants are awarded. These changes require that political appointees (selected for their loyalty to Trump, of course) have the final say on all grants. They will be charged with insuring that no hint of DEI or gender uncertainty receives a penny of federal funding. Peer review will be viewed only as advisory and not binding on those decisions. Only projects (be they scientific research, community development, anti-poverty, what have you) that are “aligned with the President’s priorities” will be eligible. This is a radical break from the non-partisan processes that have enabled this country’s preeminence in so many fields.
If, like many of us, you’ve been struggling with how to meaningfully resist what Trump/MAGA is doing to the country, here’s your chance. The public comment period lasts until July 13. Three more weeks. Making a comment is easy. There’s no reason not to do it. And it makes a real difference. Here’s what you need to know.
Elizabeth Ginexi was a program officer at NIH for 22 years before retiring last year in response to the Trump administration’s politicization of science. She has been using her Substack to sound the alarm about the proposed changes and to provide concrete guidance on how to respond.
Here is her Summary of Key Changes in OMB’s Proposed Federal Financial Assistance Rule.
Here is her post describing how This New Rule is Bigger Than Science. Much Bigger.
And in this post she provides step-by-step guidance on how to submit a comment. What We Need to Do Next.
There’s much more on her Substack, but this is enough to get you started. If you want more, she is co-hosting a live Q&A about the proposed rule and how to provide a comment next Thursday (the 25th) at 3pm eastern. Here’s the registration link.
I’ve been tracking Vought for a long time. He is a hardcore Christian Nationalist. The Center for Renewing America, which he founded during the interregnum, proudly proclaims as its mission “to renew a consensus of America as a nation under God with unique interests worthy of defending that flow from its people, institutions, and history, where individuals’ enjoyment of freedom is predicated on just laws and healthy communities.” For more about his background and policy positions, his Wikipedia entry is a good place to start.
Please! Take half an hour to review Ginexi’s posts and compose and submit a brief comment. If the rule as proposed is implemented, the damage will be immense and very difficult to correct. Your comment provides important support for preserving a key part of what truly is Great about the United States of America.