Christian nationalist Trump ally crafting plan to 'invoke Insurrection Act on Day One'

A leading candidate to become Donald Trump's chief of staff in a potential second term is spearheading an effort to inject right-wing Christian extremism into his administration.

Russell Vought, who previously served as Trump’s director of the Office of Management and Budget, is head of The Center for Renewing America think tank that has been developing a document that explicitly calls for "Christian nationalism" to be a policy priority in a potential return to the White House, reported Politico.

Christian nationalism is listed as a bullet point in a list of top priorities, which also includes invoking "the Insurrection Act on Day One to put down protests and refusing to spend funds authorized by Congress on unwanted projects, which has been banned since the Richard Nixon era."

Vought sees his organization's mission as “renew[ing] a consensus of America as a nation under God,” according to CRA's website, and reorganizing the U.S. as an explicitly Christian nation “where our rights and duties are understood to come from God."

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“It is a commitment to an institutional separation between church and state, but not the separation of Christianity from its influence on government and society,” Vought wrote two years ago in Newsweek. “[That framework] can lead to beneficial outcomes for our own communities, as well as individuals of all faiths.”

CRA's work aligns with other right-wing MAGA organizations to draft policy proposals to influence a possible second Trump presidency, and two sources familiar with their plans said Vought hopes his regular contact with the ex-president would make Christian nationalism a focal point in his administration.

Vought is advising one of those efforts, Project 2025, which is being drafted by outside conservative groups operated by Trump allies to reshape the federal government with MAGA loyalists and dismantle or overhaul government agencies in a second term.

Documents obtained by Politico don't outline specifically Christian nationalist policies in CRA's draft, but Vought has in the past promoting an immigration policy shaped by Biblical teachings about whether person “accept[ed] Israel’s God, laws and understanding of history" – which is the hallmark of the historically inaccurate view that the U.S. was founded as a Christian nation.

Vought also has close ties Christian nationalist William Wolfe, a former Trump administration official who has worked to overturn same-sex marriage, terminate abortion rights, restrict access to contraception, eliminate sex education in schools and end surrogacy and no-fault divorce.

“Christians should reject a Christ-less ‘conservatism,’ and demand the political movement we are most closely associated with make a return to Christ-centered foundations," Wolfe has posted on X. "Because it’s either Christ or chaos, even on the ‘Right.’”

Vought frequently echoes Wolfe's positions, saying that "Jesus Christ wasn’t an open-borders socialist," and defending the first Trump administration's family separation policy at the border.

"The Bible unapologetically upholds the concept of sovereign nations," Vought previously said.