The GOP-controlled Senate easily confirmed Russell Vought to lead the Trump administration’s Office of Management and Budget on Thursday, as Democrats objected to the nominee over his ties to the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025.
The upper chamber voted 53–47 along party lines to confirm Vought as the White House’s budget director. He will play a key role in cutting federal programs and spending.
The final vote came after Senate Democrats held a rare overnight session in protest of Vought, whom they consider to be President Donald Trump’s “most dangerous nominee” because he co-authored Project 2025, a conservative policy road map for Trump’s second term. Most members of the Democratic caucus, if not all, debated Vought’s confirmation for 30 hours, starting Wednesday afternoon.
“Confirming the most radical nominee, who has the most extreme agenda, to the most important agency in Washington, triple-header of disaster for hardworking Americans,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said in his floor speech Thursday morning. “Again, wrong person, wrong ideas, wrong place to be to put those horrible ideas into effect.”
Before the confirmation, Democratic senators tried speaking out against the nomination when their names were called. They were told repeatedly they could not debate during the roll call voting period.
Democrats claimed Vought poses a threat to federal programs such as Social Security, Medicare, child care, and funding for school lunches.
The budget office issued a memo to implement a freeze on federal grants and loans before the document was ultimately rescinded last week amid legal challenges, although White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that the federal funding freeze was still in effect. The memo spread widespread confusion.
A proponent of the impoundment legal theory, Vought believes the executive branch has the authority to spend or freeze federal funds that the administration deems unnecessary. Typically, that power is reserved for Congress.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) led his party to support Vought, saying he “will have the chance to address two key economic issues — cutting burdensome government regulations and addressing excessive spending.”
Vought previously served as OMB director, acting director, and deputy director during Trump’s first term. Thursday night’s confirmation puts him in charge of an office that holds great power in implementing the president’s priorities.
In the 922-page document outlining Project 2025, Vought wrote that the OMB “has the only statutory tools in the White House that are powerful enough to override implementing agencies’ bureaucracies.”
While Trump backed away from Project 2025 during the 2024 electoral cycle as Democrats launched attack ads against it, the president implemented many of its proposals and appointed officials tied to the Heritage Foundation’s presidential transition project.