President Donald Trump&#8217;s budget chief delivered on Sunday a counterargument to Elon Musk&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elon-disappointed-by-one-big-beautiful-bill" target="_blank" rel="noopener">warning</a> that the House-passed version of the &#8220;One Big, Beautiful Bill&#8221; would further expand the federal deficit.
On CNN&#8217;s &#8220;State of the Union,&#8221; anchor Dana Bash showed Russ Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), a clip of Musk telling &#8220;CBS Sunday Morning&#8221; in a recent <a href="https://x.com/CBSSunday/status/1927535075144421527" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview</a> of his concern that the legislation will inflate the federal deficit that has already blown past $1 trillion in recent years. Musk also referred to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative that he oversaw for the past few months.
&#8220;I was like — disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decrease it. And it undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,&#8221; Musk said.
&#8220;I love Elon,&#8221; Vought responded. &#8220;This bill doesn&#8217;t increase the deficit or hurt the debt. In fact, it lowers it by $1.4 trillion. What some of the watchdogs have done is, they have used CBO&#8217;s artificial baseline, which doesn&#8217;t allow and assume that current tax law will be extended because of sunsets that are in the law.&#8221;
Vought added later, &#8220;When you assume the extension of the president&#8217;s tax relief from 2017, this budget or this bill, and it&#8217;s really a reconciliation bill — it&#8217;s not really a budget bill. It is using a budget process. This is a $1.4 trillion over 10 years deficit reduction. It&#8217;s $1.6 trillion in mandatory savings. Obviously, we have a little bit of spending in there as well for border and defense. But that is the biggest mandatory savings package that we have seen since 1997. It&#8217;s very historic.&#8221;
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The &#8220;One Big, Beautiful Bill,&#8221; which is moving through Congress through the reconciliation process that will allow the Senate to bypass the filibuster threshold, aims to advance Trump’s priorities on border security, energy, and national defense. It also seeks to retain tax cuts from 2017 that are set to expire at the end of this year, raise the debt limit by trillions of dollars, and much more.
Trump has <a href="https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1925548216243703820" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> the bill &#8220;arguably the most significant piece of Legislation that will ever be signed in the History&#8221; of the United States, but has given his <a href="https://www.dailysignal.com/2025/05/26/make-changes-they-want-trump-gives-senate-go-ahead-take-red-pen-big-beautiful-bill/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blessing</a> to GOP senators, some of whom have also raised <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/speaker-johnson-rebuts-rand-pauls-debt-warning-big-beautiful-bill" target="_blank" rel="noopener">objections</a> to the bill in its current form, to &#8220;make the changes they want.&#8221;
Musk, who just ended his stint as a special government employee, also said in the CBS interview that when the bill came along, he thought &#8220;everything&#8221; accomplished by DOGE would get &#8220;wiped out&#8221; in the first year. He also said, &#8220;I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful, but I don’t know if it can be both. My personal opinion.&#8221;
Last week, Vought <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-budget-director-confirms-first-targets-for-clawing-back-spending" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> the White House planned to send its first rescissions package of the year to Congress on Monday or Tuesday, aiming to claw back spending for U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and NPR — programs that Republicans view as being wasteful and partisan. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has listed rescissions as being one of two actions the House will take based on findings from DOGE, in addition to using the appropriations process to “swiftly implement” Trump’s proposed 2026 budget.
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White House OMB Director Russ Vought

Trump’s Budget Chief Responds To Elon’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Critique

Congress

Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)

Elon Musk

National Debt

Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

Politics

Russ Vought

Spending Bill

Tax Cuts

The White House plans to send its first rescissions package of the year to the Congress next week, President Donald Trump&#8217;s budget chief announced on Wednesday, aiming to gut programs that Republicans view as being wasteful and partisan.
Russ Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), said during an interview on Fox Business that the request to claw back funds appropriated by Congress will be delivered to the House on Monday or Tuesday, whenever the lower chamber is back in session.
The package will focus on removing &#8220;waste and garbage&#8221; for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and foreign aid, Vought told host Larry Kudlow.
Vought noted the package will also target NPR and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). NPR just <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/27/business/media/npr-trump-lawsuit-executive-order-funding.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sued</a> Trump over his executive order for ending &#8220;taxpayer subsidization&#8221; of outlets presenting &#8220;biased and partisan&#8221; news coverage. In particular, the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/05/ending-taxpayer-subsidization-of-biased-media/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">directive</a> seeks to end funds to NPR and PBS through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CBP).
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🚨 <a href="https://twitter.com/WHOMB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WHOMB</a> Director <a href="https://twitter.com/RussVought47?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RussVought47</a> confirms that President Trump&#8217;s first rescissions package — clawing back wasteful spending in USAID, foreign aid, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and NPR — will be sent to Congress next week. <a href="https://t.co/wBZp1lciat">pic.twitter.com/wBZp1lciat</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1927831966658797660?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Axios <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/05/28/trump-budget-doge-npr-pbs-usaid-congress" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that the rescissions package is expected to cover $9.4 billion and, once delivered, lawmakers will have 45 days to approve it. Vought noted how the measure can be passed by the House and Senate with a simple majority, meaning the filibuster will not be in play.
&#8220;We&#8217;ve had good conversations to make sure they knew it was coming,&#8221; Vought said. &#8220;They had some input as to some of the changes that could be made to make it something that could pass the House. And we&#8217;re excited for that to occur next week.&#8221;
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Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/speaker-johnson-reveals-two-ways-house-act-doge-findings" target="_blank" rel="noopener">listed</a> rescissions as being one of two actions the House will take based on findings from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative, led by Elon Musk, in addition to using the appropriations process to &#8220;swiftly implement&#8221; Trump&#8217;s proposed 2026 budget.
&#8220;When the White House sends its rescissions package to the House, we will act quickly by passing legislation to codify the cuts,&#8221; Johnson <a href="https://x.com/SpeakerJohnson/status/1927749395363045819" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a Wednesday post on X.
During his appearance on Fox Business, Vought also defended the version of Trump’s &#8220;One Big, Beautiful Bill&#8221; narrowly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-passes-one-big-beautiful-bill-in-massive-win-for-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed</a> by the House last week after Musk <a href="https://x.com/CBSSunday/status/1927535075144421527" target="_blank" rel="noopener">warned</a> it &#8220;undermines&#8221; DOGE&#8217;s cost-cutting efforts because it risks further increasing the federal deficit, which has already surpassed $1 trillion in recent years.
&#8220;We have been in the process of getting the most important priority done, and that is the &#8216;One Big Beautiful Bill&#8217; &#8230; we are in the business of actually passing a law,&#8221; Vought <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1927822695145611426" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;It has $1.6 trillion in actual, mandatory savers for the first time ever.&#8221;

President Trump

Trump Budget Director Confirms First Targets For Clawing Back Spending

Mike Johnson

National Public Radio (NPR)

U.S. House of Representatives

USAID

President Donald Trump&#8217;s &#8220;one big, beautiful bill&#8221; offers a &#8220;historic level of mandatory savings,&#8221; Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Russell Vought declared on Wednesday when pressed for a response to the legislation&#8217;s skeptics among conservative lawmakers.
Vought spoke about the legislation making its way through Congress through the reconciliation process during an appearance on &#8220;The Ben Shapiro Show&#8221; as House Republican leadership tries to rally the GOP rank-and-file behind the comprehensive package that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/passing-trump-one-big-beautiful-bill-gop-duty-voters-white-house" target="_blank" rel="noopener">aims</a> to provide funding for Trump’s domestic priorities, retain the 2017 tax cuts, raise the debt limit, and more.
After noting how fiscal hawks are experiencing &#8220;heartburn&#8221; over the bill not doing enough to reduce the deficit and concerns that it might actually contribute to the deficit or add to the nearly $37 trillion national debt, Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro asked Vought to provide the &#8220;truth&#8221; of the matter.
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.<a href="https://twitter.com/RussVought45?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RussVought45</a>, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, details President Trump&#8217;s &#8220;one big, beautiful bill&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/qtTZ876fUk">pic.twitter.com/qtTZ876fUk</a>
— The Ben Shapiro Show (@BenShapiroShow) <a href="https://twitter.com/BenShapiroShow/status/1925245778114584630?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 21, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;This is the most historic level of mandatory savings that we&#8217;ve had, ever: $1.6 trillion,&#8221; Vought replied. &#8220;And just to give people a little bit of context: for 30 years, we&#8217;ve had virtually no efforts to&#8221; rein in spending programs, &#8220;which are the things that are kind of hardwired into permanent law. Welfare benefits, things like Medicaid, and we&#8217;ve had nothing of consequence since the 1997 Balanced Budget Agreement which included the work requirements with a Republican Congress and [former President] Bill Clinton.&#8221;
Vought said the bill currently being considered by Congress &#8220;essentially doubles that with $1.6 trillion, begins to have sizable savings to get illegal immigrants off of Medicaid, to have a work requirement in Medicaid to take those reforms from 1997 and apply them to more of the federal programs to get people back into the labor force.&#8221;
The bill &#8220;does sizable things,&#8221; Vought continued, noting that the Trump administration believes the bill will also bring economic growth.
&#8220;My view as the budget guy: you can&#8217;t cut spending if you don&#8217;t have a growing economy,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And so, the last thing you wanna do is not preserve these cuts, get them extended, that really is just what current law is. There&#8217;s a unique thing in budget land where you allow for programs to be permanent, but tax relief sunsets. So all that we&#8217;re doing is extending what is essentially current law and then adding $1.6 trillion in mandatory savings. We think it&#8217;s actually historic and something this town hasn&#8217;t even begun to approach, as we are working with members to be able to tell that story.&#8221;

OMB Boss Russel Vought

Trump’s Budget Chief Responds To Fiscal Hawk ‘Heartburn’ Over ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’

Taxes

U.S.

WASHINGTON—The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released President Donald Trump&#8217;s discretionary budget request for the fiscal year 2026 on Friday, showing big increases in border and defense spending as well as massive cuts to woke funding priorities instituted by President Joe Biden&#8217;s administration.
The new budget reduces non-defense discretionary spending by $163 billion, or 23%, from the 2025 enacted level. That is the lowest non-defense spending level since 2017, according to OMB.
At the same time, defense spending will be increased by 13% under the proposed budget, and appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security will be increased by almost 65%, OMB said. In a release, OMB said that the increases in funding are &#8220;to ensure that our military and other agencies repelling the invasion of our border have the resources they need to complete the mission.&#8221;
The funding increases will be achieved if the &#8220;One Big Beautiful Bill&#8221; passes. OMB said in a release that it will be enacted &#8220;with a simple majority in the Congress,&#8221; and warns against Democrats holding it hostage &#8220;for wasteful spending increases that have been the status quo in Washington.&#8221;
“For decades, the biggest complaint about the Federal Budget was wasteful spending and bloated bureaucracy,&#8221; Russ Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said in a statement on Friday morning. &#8220;But over the last four years, Government spending aggressively turned against the American people and trillions of our dollars were used to fund cultural Marxism, radical Green New Scams, and even our own invasion.&#8221;
&#8220;No agency was spared in the Left’s taxpayer-funded cultural revolution,&#8221; Vought added. &#8220;At this critical moment, we need a historic Budget—one that ends the funding of our decline, puts Americans first, and delivers unprecedented support to our military and homeland security. The President’s Budget does all of that.&#8221;
During a press call with reporters on Friday morning, senior OMB officials described how they worked closely with the Department of Government Efficiency as they developed the budget request.
Asked by The Daily Wire about the increases in defense spending, a senior OMB official described those increases as &#8220;truly historic.&#8221;
&#8220;I can&#8217;t say that the defense is the highest, but it is, it is on par with what was seen in the Reagan administration and the president&#8217;s first term for sure, if you look at the levels as a percentage of GDP,&#8221; the official explained. &#8220;So very, very high levels.&#8221;
&#8220;We&#8217;ve never seen an investment like this on the Homeland Security side, it&#8217;s something that, I think will be vital, and as we said, paradigm shifting in terms of how we secure those resources, to make sure that this is the honestly the last time we have to have a funding conversation about whether the border is going to be adequately funded,&#8221; that official added.
OMB is very excited about the impact that the funding will have on this front and what it will buy in terms of fixing the border problems created by the previous administration, the official shared.
&#8220;We want to make sure that the enduring infrastructure and the agencies have the resources to ensure that it can never be a problem again,&#8221; the official said.
According to a release from OMB, the president&#8217;s key priorities of the budget request include ending weaponization and reducing violent crime; defunding the &#8220;harmful woke, Marxist agenda,&#8221; securing the border; realigning foreign aid to ensure it is efficient and consistent with American foreign policy; rebuilding the nation&#8217;s military; achieving American energy dominance; making America healthy again, supporting veterans; preserving social security; streamlining K-12 education funding and parental choices; supporting space flight, addressing drug abuse; improving wildland fire fighting, and more.

President Trump Departs White House En Route To Alabama

White House Budget Features ‘Historic’ Increases In Defense Spending, Slashes Woke Funding

Defense

White House

Daily Wire host Michael Knowles was part of the White House&#8217;s first-ever &#8220;Podcast Row&#8221; on Thursday, joining other podcasters in a room set up where they can stream, record, and talk with Trump cabinet officials.
The White House debuted Podcast Row as the Trump administration prioritizes giving access to journalists and news outlets outside of the legacy media. Podcast Row is similar to the &#8220;new media seat&#8221; the White House grants to journalists and podcasters once a month at the press briefing.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the new setup for podcast hosts and quipped that those invited to Podcast Row reach &#8220;more viewers than CNN and the legacy media.&#8221;
“Hey everybody, today is Podcast Row here at the White House and our team has gathered a room full of podcasters with cabinet officials, White House officials who are talking to them about the president and his agenda,” Leavitt said. “And I bet you, the people in that room have much more viewers than CNN and the legacy media, just saying. We’re proud to welcome them to the White House.”
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Our very own <a href="https://twitter.com/michaeljknowles?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@michaeljknowles</a> is in The White House Podcast Row! <a href="https://t.co/VGhTVOcyy2">https://t.co/VGhTVOcyy2</a>
&mdash; Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1905332459215974534?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 27, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Fun day planned&#8230;&#8221; Knowles wrote on X alongside a picture of the name plate given to him by the White House.
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Fun day planned… 😎 🇺🇸 <a href="https://t.co/n4DcM9mR1h">pic.twitter.com/n4DcM9mR1h</a>
&mdash; Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) <a href="https://twitter.com/michaeljknowles/status/1905267611471905183?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 27, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Other journalists and commentators in attendance at Podcast Row on Thursday included <a href="https://x.com/nataliegwinters/status/1905263531512963395" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Natalie Winters</a> of Steve Bannon&#8217;s &#8220;War Room&#8221; and Canadian YouTuber <a href="https://x.com/thevivafrei/status/1905285209831973290" target="_blank" rel="noopener">David Freiheit</a>.
According to NewsNation reporter Libbey Dean, who was on hand to cover the event, numerous Trump officials stopped by to chat with the podcasters, including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought.
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Happening now: Inside look at White House Podcast Row event.
In attendance today: <a href="https://twitter.com/RobertKennedyJr?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RobertKennedyJr</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/SecScottBessent?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecScottBessent</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/LeeMZeldin?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LeeMZeldin</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/EDSecMcMahon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@EDSecMcMahon</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/PressSec?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PressSec</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/russvought?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@russvought</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/AlinaHabba?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AlinaHabba</a> <a href="https://t.co/nVZnT8bWTH">pic.twitter.com/nVZnT8bWTH</a>
&mdash; Libbey Dean (@LibbeyDean_) <a href="https://twitter.com/LibbeyDean_/status/1905281329559711962?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 27, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Michael Knowles

White House Hosts Inaugural ‘Podcast Row’

Karoline Leavitt

Lee Zeldin

Linda McMahon

Media

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Scott Bessent

Conservative groups are calling on the new director of the Office of Management and Budget to stop the flow of any federal funding to Planned Parenthood, The Daily Wire has learned.
In a letter led by Advancing American Freedom and signed by Live Action&#8217;s Lila Rose, The Family Leader&#8217;s Bob Van Der Plaat, and a slew of other pro-life leaders, the conservative groups reminded OMB Director Russ Vought of his reflections on life from last year, when he wrote: &#8220;Defending life is the most important issue to me. Whenever there was a federal decision to be made, I personally saw President Trump decide for life. Every time.&#8221;
&#8220;President Trump is navigating choppy waters carefully in a post-Roe sea of possibilities to save life very few ever thought possible that exists largely because he kept his word,&#8221; Vought <a href="https://x.com/russvought/status/1777399709008629925?lang=en">posted on X in April 2024</a>, amid consternation over then-candidate Donald Trump&#8217;s comments on abortion. &#8220;That is what statesmen do. Below is a speech that I delivered in 2020 that still holds up about his pro-life record. Trust the man who delivered the end of Roe when all the other pro life politicians could not. &#8221;
The Thursday letter to Vought, first obtained by The Daily Wire, states: &#8220;We look forward to supporting your work in protecting Americans&#8217; hard-earned tax dollars from wasteful spending and funding abortions. As OMB Director, we strongly encourage you to review all federal funding to Planned Parenthood and to take all legal steps possible to ensure that American taxpayer dollars do not flow to Planned Parenthood or any of its subsidiaries.&#8221;
The groups point out that in 2022, Planned Parenthood &#8220;ended the lives of almost 400,000 babies, aborting more than 220 for each child they referred for adoption.&#8221; They also cite Government Accountability Office numbers revealing that Planned Parenthood affiliates received $148 million in HHS grants and $1.5 billion in Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP payments.
&#8220;American taxpayers should not be funding this,&#8221; the letter states.
&#8220;Shockingly, taxpayer dollars comprise 34% of Planned Parenthood’s overall revenue, and its taxpayer funding has soared more than 40% since 2010,&#8221; it continued. &#8220;Because money is fungible, and the Biden Administration removed key regulatory safeguards ensuring that Title X dollars are walled off from Planned Parenthood’s abortion services, American taxpayers are heavily footing the bill for abortions and keeping Planned Parenthood’s doors open.&#8221;
In recent years, Planned Parenthood <a href="https://www.plannedparenthood.org/get-care/our-services/gender-affirming-care">has also become a major provider</a> of transgender hormones, such as estrogen for men who believe they are women and testosterone for women who believe they are men, as well as puberty blockers for minors, and surgery referrals.
“It’s possible they’re the largest provider of trans health in the country,” Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-attack-on-planned-parenthood-hurts-transgender-people-too/">told The Daily Beast in 2017 of Planned Parenthood</a>. “We don’t know for sure. But it’s certainly among the biggest, if not the biggest.”
For example, The Washington Free Beacon <a href="https://freebeacon.com/latest-news/planned-parenthood-is-helping-teenagers-transition-after-a-30-minute-consult-parents-and-doctors-are-sounding-the-alarm/">reported in October 2023</a> that after a 30-minute consultation, a Planned Parenthood clinic in New Jersey prescribed hormones to an 18-year-old high school boy with autism, ADHD, anxiety, depression, and behavioral issues.  And detransitioner Helena Kerschner <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/catholic-chicago-hospital-chose-ideology-over-biology-in-treating-biological-girl-who-believed-she-was-male-de-transitioner-says">told The Daily Wire in 2022</a> that she also was prescribed testosterone after a very brief visit at a Chicago-area Planned Parenthood.

Russell Vought 12/16

EXCLUSIVE: Trump’s OMB Director Is Urged To Block Taxpayer Dollars To Planned Parenthood

Donald Trump

Illinois’ Wheaton College has long traded on its reputation as a doctrinally conservative Christian institution. Its landing page promises prospective students that they will “find [their] Christ-centered calling” at the school. And its alumni list reads like who’s who of evangelical leaders.
But the college is unwilling to honor the accomplishments of one famous son because of his association with the Trump administration.
On Thursday, the Senate confirmed Russ Vought, who has a strong pro-life record, to lead the Office of Management and Budget, with all 53 Republicans voting in his favor. The following day, Wheaton’s social media accounts commended Vought, posting that the school “congratulates and prays” for him.
But by Saturday morning, negative comments left by Facebook users prompted Wheaton to retract the post.
“The recognition and prayer is something we would typically do for any graduate who reached that level of government,” Wheaton<a href="https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1GV18yRwgk/"> said</a> in a statement. “However, the political situation surrounding [Vought’s] appointment led to a significant concern expressed online. It was not our intention to embroil the College in a political discussion or dispute.” 
The college added that “as a non-profit institution, [it] does not make political endorsements,” even though its congratulatory message was not at all partisan.
While Wheaton did not make any formal political endorsements in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election, the school did<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C_jSy0gRwmp/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&amp;igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA=="> host a political event</a> with<a href="https://www.instagram.com/theafterparty2024/p/DACU4eaSWl9/?img_index=1"> anti-Trump speakers</a>. On September 12, it welcomed<a href="https://redeemingbabel.org/the-after-party/"> The After Party</a>, a political Bible study program created by New York Times columnist David French, Christianity Today editor-in-chief Russell Moore, and Duke Divinity consulting professor Curtis Chang, all three of whom openly opposed Trump’s candidacy. French went as far as to endorse Kamala Harris, while Chang <a href="https://x.com/Protestia/status/1854502429225574780">called</a> Trump’s win “a disaster for the country” that left him in “anguish.”
Though The After Party says its mission is to “reframe Christian political thinking,” it was financed exclusively by<a href="https://firstthings.com/follow-the-money-to-the-after-party/"> left-wing secular funders</a>, including<a href="https://x.com/megbasham/status/1887690285120983165"> Bill Kristol’s</a> anti-Trump group, the Defending Democracy Together Institute — which the campaign finance watchdog Open Secrets highlighted as a<a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/defending-democracy-together/news?id=D000073042"> major source of dark money</a> in the 2020 and 2024 elections. Moreover, Christian authors like Natasha Crain have<a href="https://natashacrain.com/how-the-after-party-curriculum-is-sowing-political-confusion-in-the-church/"> highlighted</a> that The After Party’s content is “in no way non-partisan” and seems intended to “confuse [church] members into believing that there’s a moral equivalence between the political parties.”
 Wheaton does not appear to have held any similar political events with conservative speakers in 2024, and Vought told The Daily Wire that he has not been welcomed to speak to students at the school since his early years as a Hill staffer.
The Daily Wire reached out to Wheaton about its Vought retraction, The After Party event, and whether it welcomed conservative speakers in 2024. Wheaton spokesman Joseph Moore replied “Offering prayers and congratulations is not a political endorsement. However, the social media post created a distracting amount of conflict on our social media channel, so we removed it and explained why.”
Eric Teetsel, Executive Vice President of the Center for Renewing America and former Vice President of Government Relations at the Heritage Foundation, is, like Vought, a Wheaton graduate with a long history in conservative politics. He told The Daily Wire he’s incredibly disappointed in his alma mater, and no longer feels he can recommend it to friends. 
“Last summer, I proudly walked two of my daughters around campus to see the place that means so much to me,” he said. “It breaks my heart that I could not in good conscience encourage them to attend Wheaton, too. The alumni magazine always features generational students. Some have family members going back seven and eight generations! I always wanted that. It sucks.”
 Economist and author David Bahnsen echoed Teetsel’s sentiments, <a href="https://x.com/DavidBahnsen/status/1888265808016716145">writing</a> on X, “Admitting you took down a ‘call to prayer’ because people online were mad at you is rank cowardice. Parents should take note of [Wheaton’s] boldness and courage when considering a school for their young adult children, because this is seriously pathetic.” 
Bahnsen added in a text to The Daily Wire: “Their rationale for the takedown was even worse than the takedown.”
Members of Congress, too, were quick to express their disgust with Wheaton’s capitulation. 
“Russ Vought is a highly accomplished alumni who should be celebrated. It’s absurd that the smallest minority of detractors come away victorious yet again,” Missouri Senator Eric Schmitt<a href="https://x.com/SenEricSchmitt/status/1888283551176495590"> said</a>.
Hillsdale College, which, like Wheaton, is a private institution, had also<a href="https://x.com/Hillsdale/status/1887682363179557001"> congratulated</a> Vought on its social media pages on Thursday. On Saturday, it reaffirmed those well wishes, <a href="https://x.com/Hillsdale/status/1888287288389722443">posting</a>, “Trigger warning: We will not be deleting our earlier post congratulating Russ Vought.”

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