# Is Russell Vought the most powerful man in America?

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/american-friction-6897945/is-russell-vought-more-powerful-than-donald-trump
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/american-friction-6897945/is-russell-vought-more-powerful-than-donald-trump.md
Podcast: [American Friction](https://stenobird.com/podcast/american-friction-6897945)
Published: 2026-06-15T03:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://pdst.fm/e/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/NSR8237108905.mp3
Audio file: https://pdst.fm/e/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/NSR8237108905.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/american-friction-6897945/episodes/is-russell-vought-more-powerful-than-donald-trump
Duration seconds: 2479

## Resource

Donald Trump says he alone can fix Washington — but is one unelected official actually running the show? Chris and Jarv are joined by journalist Andy Kroll to discuss the rise of Russell Vought, the budget chief using the Office of Management and Budget to quietly expand Trump’s power from inside the White House. Back us on Patreon – we need your help to keep going. Get ad free episodes, extra bits and merch: https://www.patreon.com/c/americanfriction We’re now on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AmericanFrictionPod Follow us on social media: BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/americanfric.bsky.social Instagram TikTok Written and presented by Chris Jones, Nikki McCann Ramirez and Jacob Jarvis. Producer: Jake Preston. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis Executive producer: Martin Bojtos. Artwork by James Parrett. Music: Orange Factory Music. AMERICAN FRICTION is a Podmasters Production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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## Transcript

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