Michael Needham

Vote, who was a key architect of Project 2025 and also served as OMB director.

During President Trump's first term, he has been a catalyst behind the administration's efforts to fire federal workers, gut key agencies, and slash foreign aid.

Now, a piece published jointly by ProPublica and The New Yorker is taking a deeper dive into votes dismantling of the federal government, chronicling his rise from the mailroom of the U.S.

Senate to what some call the shadow president.

Votes vision for the U.S.

government, an all-powerful executive branch would be able to fire workers, cancel programs, shutter agencies, and undo regulations that cover air and water quality, financial markets, workplace protections, and civil rights.

The Department of Justice, meanwhile, would shed its historical independence and operate at the direction of the White House.

All of this puts vote at the center of what Steve Vladeck, a law professor at Georgetown, described to me as the Trump administration's complete disregards for the law.

And if you look at historical parallels and you read books like the one written by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright or Anne Applebaum, the groundwork being laid here for destroying democracy.