Capitalists And Money

OMB nominee Russell Vought pledges to divest from Bitcoin upon confirmation

A newly released financial disclosure for Russell Vought, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to run the Office of Management and Budget, shows he has both Bitcoin and college savings plans among his assets.

Vought, a prominent contributor to the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 who led the powerful office during the first Trump administration, is on track to lead the agency a second time around in reviewing federal regulations and developing the president’s budget.

He lists Bitcoin valuing between $1,001 and $15,000 among his assets, but he has pledged to get rid of them “as soon as practical but not later than 90 days after my confirmation,” according to a letter addressed to the OMB’s alternate designated agency ethics official, Laurie E. Adams.

In addition to his $542,204 salary from the conservative think tank he founded, the Center for Renewing America, and its advocacy arm, Citizens for Renewing America, Vought reported more than $5,000 in income from the Republican National Committee for preparing the party’s policy platform for the 2024 Republican National Convention.

He has two 529 education investment accounts each worth $50,001 to $100,000. He has 401k and 403b retirement accounts sponsored by his former employers, but Heritage and Center for Renewing America won’t be paying into the accounts any longer. He’s also invested in more than a half-dozen index funds.

Vought earned honorariums from Hillsdale College and American Global strategies for $4,000 and $5,000 each, along with a $500 payment for an article published in World Magazine titled “Taking on the Military Caste” about Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s battle against the Pentagon over abortion.

He has also pledged to resign his positions with both Center and Citizens for Renewing America and his role at America First Legal upon his confirmation, though he did not report income from the conservative nonprofit group.

Vought will appear before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Jan. 15 for his first confirmation hearing. He will also testify before the Senate Budget Committee, but that hearing is not yet scheduled.