President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Office of Management and Budget director, Russell Vought, appears during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on Jan. 15, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to run the Office of Management and Budget appeared on a glide path to confirmation following a Wednesday hearing, despite Democrats raising concerns over his policy beliefs and actions in the exact same job during the first administration.
Russ Vought, who ran a conservative think tank for the last four years, repeatedly declined to detail how he would advise Trump on a variety of policy issues during the two-hour hearing — with one notable exception.
Vought testified he and Trump believe the president holds the sole authority to withhold funding approved by Congress through something called impoundment, which is currently illegal under a 1970s-era law.
“The president has run on the issue of impoundment and has reminded the country that 200 years of presidents have used this authority,” Vought said during the hearing. “And we’ll be developing our approach to this issue and strategy once his administration is in office.”
The issue could become one of the rare occasions where GOP and Democratic lawmakers unite against the executive branch in an attempt to preserve Congress’ power of the purse. The debate would likely end up at the Supreme Court if Trump does freeze funding once in office.
Michigan Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, ranking member on the committee, asked Vought how Congress would be able to negotiate bipartisan bills “in good faith” if a president could simply choose not to spend money on programs they didn’t like for political or policy reasons.
“If the president can refuse to spend appropriations passed by Congress, wouldn’t he now just basically have the power to simply pick all the winners and losers who receive government funding?” he asked.
First Trump administration
Peters also sharply criticized Vought for his actions during the first Trump administration, when Vought worked as deputy director, acting director and then director of the Office of Management and Budget.
“Unfortunately, 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. “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.”
Peters listed:
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A series of eight reports from the Government Accountability Office that found the Trump administration violated federal laws “by directing certain federal agencies to continue to operate during the 2018-19 shutdown.” The reports addressed actions by the Department of Agriculture’s farm service agency and its early payment of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP benefits, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Interior Department, National Archives and Records Administration, OMB, Smithsonian Institution and Treasury Department.
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A GAO investigation that concluded the Trump administration broke federal law when it withheld security assistance to Ukraine.
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And a report from the inspector general for the Department of Housing and Urban Development that concluded “OMB inappropriately delayed disaster relief funding for Puerto Rico following devastation after Hurricane Maria.”
Vought rejected the conclusions of those reports and said he had never violated the law or the Constitution and that he didn’t intend to if confirmed.
“I will always commit to upholding the law. I disagree with the characterization of the General Accounting Office,” Vought said. “During my time at OMB, we followed the law consistently, and we will continue to do so.”
The Office of Management and Budget, also called the White House budget office, is responsible for submitting the president’s annual budget request to Congress, but it also has sweeping authority over federal regulations and federal agencies.
Disaster aid, Ukraine assistance
Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal later asked Vought if he would commit to releasing all of the roughly $100 billion in disaster aid Congress approved in a December spending package.
The funding was divided up to numerous federal departments, including the Agriculture Department, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Small Business Administration and the Department of Transportation.
“We will continue to release the money that’s appropriately been funded for these areas, as we always have with regard to the FEMA dollars,” Vought said.
When Blumenthal asked if he would make a similar commitment for the unspent military and humanitarian assistance Congress approved for Ukraine, Vought gave a different answer.
“I’m not going to get ahead of the president on a foreign policy issue of the magnitude of the situation with regard to Ukraine,” Vought said.
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Rand Paul, R-Ky., said he was optimistic that Vought would be able to rein in federal spending and regulations and called him “well qualified for the role.”
“Mr. Vought has been a consistent advocate for fiscal sanity and has continually suggested strategies to decrease excess spending,” Paul said. “The director of OMB plays a pivotal role in our economy, especially now — our government is over $36 trillion in debt and the Congressional Budget Office predicts an average of about $2 trillion per year for the next 10 years. No end in sight.
“We need someone with the strength of character, like Mr. Vought, to put the foot down, to put the hammer down and say enough’s enough.”