Who is Russell Vought? The controversial figure taking over DOGE from Elon Musk

Russell Vought arrives for a ‘Make America Wealthy Again’ event at the White House (Picture: Getty)

Elon Musk is stepping down as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to focus on his tanking sales at Tesla,as well as maybe going to Mars.

The world’s richest man has been a high profile member of Donald Trump’s administration,but the man taking his place could be just as influential,if not so widely recognisable.

Arch-conservative Russell Vought is one of the co-authors of Project 2025,a vision published before the US election which set out a wishlist including firing up to 50,000 government officials and replacing them with Trump loyalists in a future Republican presidency.

Donald Trump claimed to ‘know nothing about’ it in November last year,writing on his Truth Social platform: ‘Some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal. Anything they do,I wish them luck,but I have nothing to do with them.’

But now in government,he seems to like Vought’s ideas quite a bit,and is favouring him for the job,the Wall Street Journal reports.

Ex-President Donald Trump addressed Project 2025 in a Truth Social post on Friday (Picture: Truth Social/@realDonaldTrump)

Vought is already serving in government as director of the White House Office of Management and Budget,and has been a lower profile partner to Musk in DOGE .

Now he will be stepping up as the leader,and he is unlikely to be finding extra money for schools and charity fetes.

‘He’s got a very sharp pencil,’ Senator Kevin Cramer told the newspaper.

He has already found controversy even within his party,as he has been blamed for not giving the military enough money.

Elon Musk is stepping back from politics (Picture: AP)

Instead of increasing the annual budget,he favoured a one-off cash award from a process known as ‘budget reconciliation’.

He has also been pushing for close to $10 billion of previously allocated government funding to be cancelled,as part of Trump’s recissions package.

Meanwhile,in an unikely pivot,Elon Musk has a new connection to Scottish trains.

Elon Musk's time in government

August 2024: During the election,Donald Trump commits to giving Elon Musk an advisory role within his government,to which Musk accepted.November 2024: Musk said that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) could cut the US federal budget and consolidate agencies.January 2025: DOGE is set up and created as Trump takes office under an executive order and Musk is given ‘special government employee’ status.February 2025: Musk waves a chainsaw in the air and accuses the Democrats of treason during a conservative gathering in Washington DC.February 2025: Musk appears alongside Trump in the Oval Office and brings along his son X Æ A-Xii.March 2025: Musk starts to experience money problems and loses over £102,000,000 since the beginning of the year.April 2025 :Trump’s Chief of Staff Susie Wiles reveals that Musk is no longer working at the White House.Scotrail has announced that they are ‘kicking off a new era’ by using his Starlink satellite technology to provider internet access to passengers.Six trains based in the rural north will have satellite internet access for a six month trial – so you’re in luck if you have emails to write on a train from Inverness to Wick,Thurso,Kyle of Lochalsh,and Aberdeen.