Jan. 22 (UPI) — Russell Vought, President Donald Trump‘s nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget, promised to help American taxpayers while undergoing a contentious confirmation hearing on Wednesday.
Vought encountered strong opposition from Democratic Party members of the Senate Budget Committee, starting with ranking member Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., who opened the hearing by accusing Vought of favoring the rich over working-class Americans.
Merkley accused Vought of favoring “tax giveaways” to the nation’s wealthiest at the expense of working families.
“This vision, as laid out, is the great betrayal of American working families,” Merkley said.
Merkley accused Vought of favoring policies that would increase wealth disparities in the United States and “make the government by and for the powerful instead of by and for the people.”
He cited cuts made to social safety, healthcare, housing and college programs in 2021 as examples of ways in which Vought’s policies while director of the OMB harms working class families, despite Vought not being the OMB director in 2021 and Democrats fully controlling the federal government.
Vought was acting OMB director from Jan. 2, 2019, to July 22, 2020.
Merkley also questioned Vought’s fitness as OMB director, saying Vought opposes abortion and supports the notion that the 2020 general election was “rigged” in President Joe Biden‘s favor.
After Merkley finished, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said it’s likely that all Budget Committee Republicans would vote for Vought’s nomination while none of the Democrats would.
He said Vought’s personal stance on abortion is irrelevant and Trump also said the 2020 election was rigged but won another term in office.
Graham asked Vought to explain how he sees the role of OMB director and said he is glad Trump nominated Vought for the position.
Vought said he supports Trump’s vision of a federal government that, he said, represents all Americans instead of the special interests of an entrenched few.
He said he is driven by a commitment to taxpayers and their families and is the son of an electrician and school teachers.
“They are a reminder of the burden the government can place on everyday Americans,” he said of his parents’ struggles to make ends meet.
He said he fears for his daughter’s future due to the size of the federal debt that has exceeded $36 trillion.
“A strong inter-agency process delivers the best results for all Americans,” Vought said and called the OMB an integral part of that process.
“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.”
Vought said he will work with their “best interest at heart” to ensure decisions are made to create a “more prosperous future for all Americans.”
Vought said it’s important to continue the 2017 tax cuts implemented during Trump’s first administration but are scheduled to end this year.
He also supports policies supporting U.S. energy independence, regulating the development and implantation of artificial intelligence and reducing federal spending in a responsible way.
Former vice presidential candidate and Budget Committee member Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., questioned Vought’s qualifications as OMB director due to the nominee’s prior work with the Center for Renewing America, which produced the controversial Project 2025 that Democrats assailed during the 2024 election cycle.
Vought founded the center as a think tank in 2021, which produced the lengthy Project 2025 as a hard-right conservative roadmap for rebuilding the nation following the COVID-19 pandemic and four years of progressive Biden administration policies. Project 2025 consolidates executive power dramatically and promotes an authoritarian Christian framework of federal government across multiple branches and departments.
Kaine noted Project 2025’s policy proposals to end “woke and weaponized government.”
Among the policy proposals Kaine cited are proposed budget cuts for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Pell Grants, Medicaid and low-income housing programs.
After citing each respective proposal, Kaine asked: “Its that woke and weaponized?”
Vought said he was not at the committee hearing to answer questions on behalf of the Center for Renewing America and refused to answer Kaine’s repeated queries about what Vought considers to be “woke and weaponized.”
Although he is not a Budget Committee member, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Tuesday evening issued a statement regarding Vought’s nomination as OMB director.
Schumer posted the statement on X and prefaced it by saying: “Russell Vought’s vision isn’t just reckless; it is downright catastrophic to the economic security of American families.”
Republican members of the Senate Budget Committee generally disagreed with Merkley, Kaine and Schumer regarding Vought and the policies he supports.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, asked Vought if anyone unlawfully in the United States should have access to taxpayer-funded benefits, including welfare, Medicaid and housing.
Vought said he would commit to working with Congress to reform such programs and ending taxpayer support for those who are illegally in the United States.