Russell Vought, President-elect Donald Trump‘s nominee to be the next director of the Office of Management and Budget, faced tough questioning from Senate Democrats during his Wednesday confirmation hearing.
Vought served as OMB director during the latter part of Trump’s first term in office and had a hand in crafting Project 2025, a controversial policy document written by the Heritage Foundation and Trump administration alums, purported to outline the agenda for Trump’s second term in office. Trump has long distanced himself from the document.
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Vought, if confirmed, figures to be a key player in Trump’s mission to slash the federal bureaucracy, including using “impoundment” to skirt Congress’s appropriations process.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, opened Wednesday’s hearing by declaring that OMB “plays a pivotal role in our economy, especially now our government is over $36 trillion in debt.”
“We need someone with the strength of character like Mr. Vought to put the foot down, to put the hammer down and say, ‘Enough is enough,'” he continued. “Mr. Vought is well qualified for this role.”
The top Democrat on the panel, Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), immediately voiced concerns over Vought’s connections to Project 2025 and the firing of thousands of federal workers on his watch while also accusing OMB of “breaking the law” on eight occasions during Vought’s previous stint as director, including by directing certain agencies to keep operating during the 2018-2019 shutdown.
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“Your record and actions in these roles raise serious concerns about how you’re going to lead this critical agency that touches literally every single part of the federal government,” Peters said in his opening statement. “Above all, I am concerned by actions you took to demonstrate a total disregard for following the laws that Congress has passed, particularly regarding how to spend taxpayer dollars.”
Vought, both in his opening statement and while fielding questions from Democrats on the committee, denied breaking laws at OMB.
“OMB’s mission goes beyond crafting the president’s budget. It encompasses the management of the federal government, reforming regulation, and coordinating policies across agencies to ensure efficient and effective implementation of the American people’s will,” Vought said in his opening statement. “The forgotten men and women of this country, those who work hard every day in cities and towns across this country, deserve a government that empowers them to achieve their dreams. While the Office of Management and Budget may not be a household term, the agency’s work is profoundly one that impacts their lives.”
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Still, Vought faced tough questions out of the gate, including tough exchanges with Peters on impoundment and attempts to rein in the powers of the executive branch.
“I think that’s a mischaracterization of the president’s viewpoint on this matter,” he responded when simply asked if impoundment, championed by the incoming administration, would allow the president to say “I’m just going to do what to hell with the Constitution” and usurp Congress’s power of the purse.