The ‘Grim Reaper’ of the Government Shutdown

The Daily

The New York Times

Daily News, News

4.4 • 102.8K Ratings

🗓️ 6 October 2025

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

During the continuing government shutdown, President Trump has posted memes depicting Russel T. Vought, the White House budget director, as the grim reaper. Coral Davenport, a Washington correspondent for The Times, explains how Mr. Vought, a once obscure official, has become one of the most influential figures in Washington.

Transcript

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0:00.0	From the New York Times, I'm Natalie Kittrowaff.
0:04.4	This is the Daily.
0:14.2	Capital Hill is still closed for business as the government shutdown heads into week two.
0:19.1	We're six days into the government shutdown,
0:21.5	and the Trump administration is capitalizing on the moment.
0:24.9	Far from working to end the shutdown,
0:26.4	Donald Trump is using it as an excuse
0:28.0	to ramp up his slash and burn cuts to the government.
0:31.3	By freezing billions of dollars in spending
0:33.5	in cities and states run by Democrats,
0:36.2	and threatening to lay off thousands of government workers.
0:39.3	So who is the man who appears to have the high trust of President Trump and gets to decide which federal workers will stay and which will go?
0:47.3	The man at the center of that push to dismantle and reshape the American government.
0:53.3	Russell vote. Russell Vote.
0:55.0	Russell Vote.
0:55.9	Who is Russ Vote?
0:58.9	Is White House Budget Director Russell Vote.
1:03.1	Today, my colleague Coral Davenport explains how Vote,
1:07.1	a once obscure bureaucrat who worked on Project 2025,
1:11.9	became one of the most influential figures in Washington.
1:23.1	It's Monday, October 6th. Coral, Russell Vote is someone I've generally been aware of.
1:33.7	But right now, because of the shutdown, he has taken on much more of a protagonist role in the Trump administration.
	...

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