Russell Vought, President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), was questioned over a series of executive orders signed this week that targeted approved congressional funding.
Hours after taking office on Jan. 20, Trump signed executive orders directing government agencies to suspend billions of dollars in funds from the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
An OMB memo later confirmed that the newly inaugurated president’s order applies to funds that breach various policy objectives, such as enabling more oil and gas output on federal lands and abolishing taxpayer support for electric vehicles. Other funds appropriated for infrastructure, such as bridges, highways, and transit, will not be impacted.
“For the purposes of implementing section 7 of the Order, funds supporting the ‘Green New Deal’ refer to any appropriations for objectives that contravene the policies established in section 2,” the OMB said in the memo. “Agency heads may disburse funds as they deem necessary after consulting with the Office of Management and Budget.”
Still, Democrats on the Senate Budget Committee questioned whether the announced orders would lead to what they view as the illegal impoundment of federal funding.
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), the committee’s ranking member, asked Vought if he would present a rescission message to Congress or “use the illegal impoundment strategy.”
Trump’s top budget nominee stated that these orders were not impoundments but “pauses” to determine if the funding “moves in a direction along the lines of what the president ran on.”
“It’s meant to be a programmatic delay to figure out what are the best ways to make sure,” Vought told lawmakers during his second confirmation hearing.
The committee’s top Democrat was “deeply disturbed” that Vought would champion a policy that, according to Merkley, violates the Constitution.
“You are not willing to say that you will use rescissions, the legal method, rather than the illegal method,” Merkley said. “That is a big concern for all of us here because the Constitution laid out the vision that Congress makes the law, not the president.”
Other Democratic senators pressed Vought, founder of the think tank Center for Renewing America, on the issue.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) asked if he would “faithfully follow” the Impoundment Control Act, a 1974 law that established guardrails preventing presidents from cutting funding approved by Congress.
While Vought espoused that the Trump administration would “uphold the law,” he noted that the president campaigned “on the notion that the Impoundment Control Act is unconstitutional.”
“I agree with that,” Vought said.
Sen. Alejandro Padilla (D-Calif.) asked Vought if he would disperse federal funding that Congress had appropriated to California after the devastating wildfires.
“The president has always been a firm distributor of federal resources to areas that need disaster money, and I don’t expect that to change, and that has characterized by my time at OMB the first time around,” he replied.
It was not only the Democrats on the committee that had consternation surrounding a Vought—led OMB potentially withholding congressionally approved funding.
Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a member of the Appropriations Committee, confirmed that there will be a markup hearing on Vought’s nomination.
A Debate Over the Power of the Purse
Last week, Democrats on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee raised similar issues during Vought’s confirmation hearing.Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) questioned whether Vought believed the Impoundment Control Act was constitutional.
“No, I don’t believe it’s constitutional,” he responded. “The president ran on that view. That’s his view, and I agree.”
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) agreed with his colleagues’ concerns over the power of the purse. At the same time, he lambasted Congress for failing to outline clear guidelines on appropriated funding.
“If we want to limit what the president does with moving money around, which I’m sympathetic to, we should have the power of the purse,” the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman said.
The panel voted 8–7—along party lines—on Jan. 20 to move Vought’s nomination to the Senate floor.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) may have already signaled his vote on Vought’s nomination as OMB director.
Schumer later posted on X following the Senate Budget Committee hearing that Vought “is the godfather of the ultra-right.”
In his opening remarks, Vought vowed to make decisions that would foster a “more prosperous future for all Americans.”
“We have to use taxpayer dollars wisely because inflation, driven by irresponsible spending, taxes Americans twice,” Vought said.
“The average American household has lost roughly $2,000 of purchasing power since January 2021. The forgotten men and women of this country deserve a government that empowers them to achieve their dreams.”
