Budget Pick Shows Trump’s Serious About Firing Civil Servants

Russell Vought, President-elect Donald Trump‘s choice for budget director, is poised to use his deep expertise on the inner workings of government to fire federal employees that disagree with his boss.

If confirmed, Vought would help X Corp. CEO Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy carry out Trump’s promise to “dismantle government bureaucracy.” Unlike Musk and Ramaswamy, Vought would have formal power through the federal budget process to implement their plans to reduce the federal workforce. Vought has argued that the president has the authority to limit agency spending without congressional approval, ...