The Smorgasbord Shutdown
b'Russell\\xa0 Vought took the helm of the Office of Management and Budget a little more than a week ago, after agencies began closing their doors. In just a few days, he has used his perch to make several controversial decisions aimed at blunting the impact of the partial government shutdown \\u2014 moves meant to buy President Trump more time to drag out the closure, which is on the verge of becoming the longest in U.S. history.\\n\\nIt was his decision to allow the Internal Revenue Service to pay tax refunds during the shutdown, something that hadn\\u2019t been previously allowed and that some Democrats called legally dubious. He was also involved in the effort to find money to pay food stamps in February, after it appeared that millions of Americans could lose the benefit.Vought wrote in 2016 that \\u201cMuslims do not simply have a deficient theology. They do not know God because they have rejected Jesus Christ his Son, and they stand condemned.\\u201d\\u201cI\\u2019m a Christian, and I believe in a Christian set of principles based on my faith,\\u201d\\xa0 Russell T. Vought WP'