The Senate’s affirmation listening to of Russell Vought, considered one of Washington’s staunchest advocates for reducing spending, provided a preview Wednesday of the bruising spending wars more likely to devour Congress this yr.
Vought, President-elect Trump’s nominee for Workplace of Administration and Price range director, a job he served in Trump’s first time period, was on the helm of the funds workplace throughout the longest authorities shutdown in historical past in 2018 and 2019. Earlier than that, he advocated for brinkmanship techniques to attain coverage wins.
He additionally advocated for reprogramming congressionally appropriated army development cash to pay for development of the U.S.-Mexico border wall, and for withholding funds to Ukraine — two points that got here up at his fiery listening to.
Vought, a former govt director of the Home Republican Examine Committee when it was the Freedom Caucus of its day, is seen as extra ideologically aligned with the fiscal conservatives who’ve roiled Home debates over spending than with GOP leaders who’ve agreed to bipartisan offers.
He’s anticipated to cruise to Senate affirmation, like Trump’s different nominees, regardless of the misgivings of some Republicans who’re leery of his affiliation with Challenge 2025, the conservative coverage playbook that grew to become a magnet for controversy throughout final yr’s election.
Vought has been a number one proponent of changing hundreds of federal civil servants to “Schedule F,” which might permit Trump and his lieutenants to fireside hundreds of nonpolitical federal staff in the event that they balk at finishing up his daring initiatives.
Fiscal conservatives are desirous to have a White Home funds director who will draw a tough line with Congress on spending.
“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,’” stated Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), the chair of the Homeland Safety Committee, who hosted Vought’s affirmation listening to.
Paul, a number one funds hawk, referred to as Vought a “consistent advocate for fiscal sanity” and predicted he can be “swiftly confirmed.”
If confirmed, Vought would play a number one position in negotiating the federal government spending deal Congress must move by March 14 to keep away from a shutdown.
Vought advocated for pushing the fiscal 2025 spending payments into the brand new Congress to offer Trump and the Senate Republican majority extra enter into its top-line spending quantity and funding priorities.
He warned in an interview with Actual America’s Voice in September that passing an omnibus spending package deal whereas President Biden was nonetheless in workplace would fund the federal authorities at “woke and weaponized high levels of bureaucracy” for 1 / 4 of Trump’s second time period.
Vought will play a central position implementing the deep spending cuts that can be beneficial by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the co-chairs of Trump’s new “Department of Government Efficiency.”
Senate Democrats grilled Vought on Wednesday over his previous help for utilizing authorities shutdowns to win coverage concessions.
“You have repeatedly, Mr. Vought, called for brinksmanship around government shutdowns and opposed bipartisan deals to keep the government open,” Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) stated in a single pointed alternate with the nominee.
“In 2011, for example, you wrote in an article that Republicans must simply be prepared to shut the government down … and need to dig deep and embrace the sort of brinksmanship that shows they are playing to win,” she stated.
Vought distanced himself from these feedback, insisting he desires to play a constructive position in passing the annual spending payments — one thing Congress didn’t do final yr.
“Senator, I don’t think I have been a person that has wanted to have government shutdowns. I’ve had to be the one that kept the government open consistent with the law for the longest shutdown in history. I know the impact it has on the federal government,” he stated, referring to the 35-day shutdown throughout Trump’s first time period that was sparked by a struggle over funding the southern border wall.
However Hassan and different Democrats on the committee didn’t appear persuaded Vought would step again from bare-knuckle techniques as Trump’s funds director.
“Unfortunately, this is a situation where there seems to be kind of a confirmation conversion, because your words in articles and talks reflect a different view about the use of government shutdowns,” she stated.
Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), the rating member of the Homeland Safety panel, grilled Vought over his help for utilizing presidential authority to withhold congressional spending.
Vought in an interview with Fox Enterprise final yr stated the “loss of impoundment authority” was “the original sin in eliminating the ability from a branch on branch to control spending.”
“We’re going to need to bring that back,” he stated.
That view drew a pointy rebuke from Peters.
“During your time at OMB, you consistently ignored laws passed by Congress that directed how taxpayer dollars should be spent,” he stated.
He pointed to an investigation by the Authorities Accountability Workplace (GAO) that discovered the funds workplace below Vought violated the regulation eight occasions throughout Trump’s first time period by directing sure federal companies to function throughout the 2018-19 shutdown.
And he famous one other GAO discovering that the funds workplace below Vought violated the regulation by withholding important safety existence to Ukraine.
“If you are confirmed as OMB director again, do you commit to follow the law and not allow OMB to withhold funding from programs that Congress has appropriated?” Peters demanded.
Vought disputed the GAO’s characterizations of his actions as OMB director and identified that Trump argued throughout the marketing campaign that the Impoundment Management Act, which bars the president from withholding congressional funding, is unconstitutional.
“We have seen to the extent this law has contributed to waste, fraud and abuse,” he stated.
He stated whether or not Trump decides to assert impoundment authority to dam congressional funding on sure priorities is “something his team would have to consider when they are confirmed in [their] roles.”
