Russell Vought

FEC donations (2004-2015, 11 records): Small-dollar conservative donor pattern. Listed employer as Heritage Action for America (2013-2015, Arlington VA), US House of Representatives (2008-2010, Washington DC). Recipients: Senate Conservatives Fund (100), Mike Lee (2x100), Matt Bevin (2x250), Pat Toomey (250), John McCain (250), Doug Hoffman (250), Pete Olson (250), Jim Patterson (50), Pro-Growth Action Team (300). All donations under 300. Zero post-2015 donations found.

Vought holds simultaneous leadership roles across 3 nonprofit entities: President & Director of Center for American Restoration Inc (c3, EIN 854307005), President & Director of Citizens for Renewing America Inc (c4, EIN 861769922), and Treasurer & Director of America First Legal Foundation (c3, EIN 862190372, Stephen Miller's org). Total comp from CRA: 314K (2023). Zero comp from AFL.

CRA c3 and CPI share the same address (300 Independence Ave SE, Washington DC 20003) and overlapping board members. CPI incubated CRA with 1.93M in seed grants (1.347M in 2022 + 583K in 2021). CPI also seeded AFL with 1.334M (2021). CPI CEO Ed Corrigan and COO Wesley Denton both serve as unpaid board members at CRA. Denton is Chairman & Treasurer at CRA c3, Treasurer at CRA c4. Corrigan is board member at both CRA entities.

Vought's CRA operates a c3/c4 pair: Center for American Restoration Inc (c3, EIN 854307005, revenue 4.39M) and Citizens for Renewing America Inc (c4, EIN 861769922, revenue 348K). All 11 officers are IDENTICAL across both entities with same titles and compensation — reported as paid by related organization, not directly. The c4 arm made a 228K grant to Election Integrity Network Inc (2022), while the c3 made a 100K grant to American Accountability Foundation (2022).

CRA c3 major donors (2023 990): Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund 517.5K, Vanguard Charitable Endowment 300K, Donors Trust 226K, National Christian Charitable Foundation 197.5K, National Philanthropic Trust 93K, Chicago Community Trust 10K. Earlier (2021-2022): CPI grants totaling 1.93M. Goldman Sachs Charitable Gift Fund 25K (2022). Vanguard Charitable 100K (2024). DAF-heavy donor base obscures ultimate funders.

CourtListener shows 20 cases involving Russell Vought. Notable: (1) Personal Chapter 13 bankruptcy in D.N.J., filed 2004-05-13, terminated 2005-12-06, case 04-26584. (2) Trademark suit: Restoration Action Inc v. Center for American Restoration Inc, E.D. Va. 1:21-cv-00400, filed 2021-03-31. (3) Baltimore v. Vought, D.Md. 1:25-cv-00458, APA challenge to OMB. (4) Cheryl Steele v. Vought, D.C. Cir. 26-5060, employment case filed 2026-02-19. (5) Multiple CFPB-related suits naming Vought as acting director.

Russell Vought (OMB Director) is primary vehicle for DOGE agenda continuation post-disbandment. American Prospect (Feb 2026): Vought quietly institutionalized government demolition agenda. He was likely architect of DOGE most severe staffing cuts; argued president can make cuts without Congress. OMB under Vought became choke point to cut off funding and functioning of programs. White House 2026 budget request (drafted by Vought) doubled DOGE budget to 45M and envisions far more institutionalized presence at agency level. NPR described approach as most aggressive use of OMB since Nixon administration.

Shared officer network across CRA/CPI/AFL: Ed Corrigan serves as CEO of CPI (440K comp), Board Member of both CRA entities (unpaid), and Director of AFL (unpaid). Wesley Denton serves as COO of CPI (439K comp), Chairman & Treasurer of CRA c3 (unpaid), Treasurer of CRA c4 (unpaid). Kevin Kookogey serves as Board Member of CRA c3, Chairman & Secretary of CRA c4, and Chairman of Citizens for Limited Government and Constitutional Integrity (EIN 852140761) and Tennessee Stands Foundation (EIN 853460880). This creates interlocking governance across the CPI-incubated network.

Vought career trajectory: Senate staffer (Gramm 1999, Hagel to 2003) -> Republican Study Committee -> House Republican Conference Policy Director (2008-2010) -> Co-founded Heritage Action for America with Michael Needham (2010), served as VP & Political Director through 2017 -> OMB Deputy Director/Acting Director/Director (2017-2021) -> Founded Center for Renewing America at CPI's headquarters (2021) -> Co-authored Project 2025 Mandate for Leadership -> OMB Director again (2025-present) + Acting CFPB Director (Feb 2025-).

LittleSis maps 29 relationships for Vought. Key connections: (1) Wife Mary Vought. (2) Business partners: Wesley Denton (CPI COO) and Ed Corrigan (CPI CEO). (3) Social: William Wolfe. (4) Staff/subordinate: James Braid. (5) Generic relationship with Elon Musk. (6) FEC donations to John McCain, Pat Toomey, Doug Hoffman, Pete Olson, Pro-Growth Action Team. (7) Board of Visitors, US Naval Academy (Dec 2020 - Sep 2021). Education: Wheaton College, GWU Law.