Simon Rabinovitch

Well, Russ Vogt, he's not outsized in terms of his personality, but I think he is outsized in terms of his influence. He was there in the first Trump administration. He's a returnee, obviously, in the second. And he really is the architect of a lot of the chaos and disruption that we've seen in the last few weeks. It's his idea.

to dramatically shrink the civil service, to bend it to President Trump's will, to reshape the way that the presidency operates to make it that much more powerful. So in many respects, he really is sort of the power behind the throne.

to dramatically shrink the civil service, to bend it to President Trump's will, to reshape the way that the presidency operates to make it that much more powerful. So in many respects, he really is sort of the power behind the throne.

to dramatically shrink the civil service, to bend it to President Trump's will, to reshape the way that the presidency operates to make it that much more powerful. So in many respects, he really is sort of the power behind the throne.

OK, so when we say Elon Musk is the power behind the throne, he's the one dismantling the civil service. That's not exactly right.

OK, so when we say Elon Musk is the power behind the throne, he's the one dismantling the civil service. That's not exactly right.

OK, so when we say Elon Musk is the power behind the throne, he's the one dismantling the civil service. That's not exactly right.

It's not exactly right. Elon Musk obviously has a great deal of influence, a great deal of power. But I think you can almost view Elon Musk and Doge, the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, as Russ votes shock troops. They, you know, they both agree that they want to reduce the size of the federal government to cut federal spending.

It's not exactly right. Elon Musk obviously has a great deal of influence, a great deal of power. But I think you can almost view Elon Musk and Doge, the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, as Russ votes shock troops. They, you know, they both agree that they want to reduce the size of the federal government to cut federal spending.

It's not exactly right. Elon Musk obviously has a great deal of influence, a great deal of power. But I think you can almost view Elon Musk and Doge, the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, as Russ votes shock troops. They, you know, they both agree that they want to reduce the size of the federal government to cut federal spending.

You know, Musk is kind of hyperactive in moving every which way, every direction. But ultimately, kind of the general, the person who's really leading this is Russ Vogt. And he's the general. He's also the scholar because what they're doing will be challenged in courts. It will be challenged in Congress.

You know, Musk is kind of hyperactive in moving every which way, every direction. But ultimately, kind of the general, the person who's really leading this is Russ Vogt. And he's the general. He's also the scholar because what they're doing will be challenged in courts. It will be challenged in Congress.

You know, Musk is kind of hyperactive in moving every which way, every direction. But ultimately, kind of the general, the person who's really leading this is Russ Vogt. And he's the general. He's also the scholar because what they're doing will be challenged in courts. It will be challenged in Congress.

But to the extent that there is a legal justification, this is something that Russ Vogt is working on and has been working on for years leading up to the moment that we now face today.

But to the extent that there is a legal justification, this is something that Russ Vogt is working on and has been working on for years leading up to the moment that we now face today.

But to the extent that there is a legal justification, this is something that Russ Vogt is working on and has been working on for years leading up to the moment that we now face today.

What's his lore? Where does he come from?

What's his lore? Where does he come from?

What's his lore? Where does he come from?

So, Roosevelt has something of a blue-collar background, you could say. He had a big family, youngest of seven children.