Christian nationalism is the driving force behind the Trump administration’s actions

President Donald J. Trump and Russell VoughtPhoto: Wikimedia Commons

The Trump budget is out, and it’s an extension of the ongoing destruction of America’s scientific supremacy and its safety net. The budget would cut $163 billion on everything from national parks to helping seniors pay for heating bills.

In a letter to Congress, Russell Vought, Trump’s budget chief, trotted out the usual rhetoric to justify the cuts. “The recommended funding levels result from a rigorous, line-by-line review of FY [fiscal year] 2025 spending, which was found to be laden with spending contrary to the needs of ordinary working Americans and tilted toward funding niche non-governmental organizations and institutions of higher education committed to radical gender and climate ideologies antithetical to the American way of life,” Vought wrote.

The reporting on the budget has been full of speculation about the difficulties that it faces in Congress. Can House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) manage to pass a bill with such a narrow margin? Will Republican “moderates” (although there are no true moderates in the GOP) be willing to accept drastic cuts to Medicaid? Will Democrats put up a fight or will they simply issue press releases complaining about how unfair the budget is?

Lost in all the coverage is the fact that the budget is a reflection of Vought’s personal philosophy, which is Christian nationalism.

Vought has been very, very clear that he wants to use the levers of government to reshape American society to serve the will of God. He literally wrote a column for Newsweek in 2021 titled, “Is There Anything Actually Wrong with ‘Christian Nationalism’?” He spent several hundred words answering the question: “No.”

Vought is also the architect behind Project 2025, the blueprint for the Trump administration’s anti-democracy drive. Project 2025 is as much a theological document as a political one. It relies upon a “biblical” interpretation of marriage and family as strictly heterosexual. It attacks the very existence of trans people as against God’s order. It describes support for LGBTQ+ rights as…

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