Trump’s shutdown architect: Russ Vought’s plan to deconstruct the government was years in the making

The Trump administration memo that landed in federal agency in-boxes last week wasn’t subtle.

As Washington careened toward a government shutdown , there would be nothing normal about the agency contingency planning which has become commonplace in more than a decade of partisan warfare that’s consumed government funding deadlines.

Instead, Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought’s 622-word directive dramatically raised the stakes: Every federal agency would now be required to submit detailed plans for mass layoffs.

Those plans would be triggered in the event of a shutdown — and would only be shelved if Democrats agreed to a Republican funding measure they’d already rejected.

The memo symbolized Vought’s methodical march to accumulate power within the executive branch —