Democratic senators on Wednesday pressed President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Office of Management and Budget on whether he would follow Capitol Hill’s directions on spending.
Appearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Russell Vought — who led the powerful White House office in Trump’s previous administration — sought to avoid disclosing details on the president-elect’s plans for his next term.
Still, he defended some of his contentious stances, including arguing the president should be able to withhold appropriated dollars.
Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), the panel’s ranking member, said he was troubled by Vought’s record, noting he blocked money at the president’s direction when Trump was last in office. The White House then stalled disaster relief to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria ripped through the U.S. territory in 2017.
“You inappropriately delayed disaster funding to those people in need,” Peters said.
Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) asked Vought whether he would stand up to Trump if he was told not to give recovery funds to California where wildfires have ravaged Los Angeles just this past week.
“Senator, I don’t engage in hypotheticals, but the president would never ask me to do something along those lines,” Vought said.
Hassan replied, “Well, history speaks a little bit differently to that point.”
At stake is the Impoundment Control Act. Passed in 1974, the law ensures Congress, not the executive branch, decides where taxpayer dollars go and has been ruled constitutional by the Supreme Court. Trump, however, campaigned on reclaiming the power to pull back funds in order to downsize the federal government.
“Let me ask you, do you believe the Impoundment Control Act is constitutional?” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) asked Vought.
“No, I don’t believe it’s constitutional. The president ran on that view,” said Vought.
The OMB nominee added that Trump’s position on impoundment will undergo “a policy process” at the Justice Department, which he couldn’t prejudge.
Blumenthal found Vought’s answer “disqualifying” and advised him to recast his response in writing for the hearing’s record.
“I am astonished and aghast that someone in this responsible of a position would in effect say that the president is above the law,” said the Connecticut senator.
Federal workforce
Vought is also a supporter of Schedule F, an initiative that would make it easier to fire federal employees. While at the Center for Renewing America, a Trump-aligned think tank he founded, Vought remarked that civil servants should be “traumatically affected” and treated as “villains.”
“I just wanted to ask you why you would use language like ‘villains’ when talking about people serving our nation?” asked Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.).
Vought said, “In those comments, I was referring to the bureaucracies that I believe have been weaponized. That doesn’t mean there’s not amazing career civil servants, many of whom I’ve worked with at OMB.”
Spending cuts
Vought hinted that for his coming term, Trump will follow the model of his budget requests of his past administration.
Those proposals slashed agencies’ funding by billions, including EPA’s, but Congress ignored them. Some senators are still itching for the return of those spending cuts.
“Do you think any American who voted for President Trump expected that spending levels would remain at Biden levels?” quizzed Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.).
Vought answered, “No, the president ran on the issue of fiscal accountability, dealing with our inflation situation.”
Regulations
Other Republicans want Vought to change up the regulatory process.
Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) said he knew the OMB pick couldn’t say whether the next administration would toss the Biden administration’s revised Circular A-4. That guidance now gives greater weight to benefits in the rulemaking process. Its last iteration was in place for 20 years.
“I would say, change it back,” Lankford said. “There should be no disagreement with this body to say use the same rules [former] President [Barack] Obama used.”
Vought said in a Project 2025 chapter he authored that the updated guidance for cost-benefit analysis should be dropped so less burdensome regulations could be developed instead.
Vote planned
Republicans on the panel were full of praise for Vought. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), the committee’s chair, said the nominee was “well-qualified,” considering his prior service at OMB.
“I support Mr. Vought’s nomination,” Paul said. “I remain hopeful that the incoming administration will take the necessary steps to restore fiscal sanity.”
The committee is already scheduled to vote on the nomination Monday after Trump is inaugurated. The Senate Budget Committee is slated to hold a hearing with Vought as well, which is scheduled for Wednesday next week.
