Trump’s pick for OMB chief defends removing civil service protections, withholding appropriated funds

Trump’s pick for OMB chief defends removing civil service protections, withholding appropriated funds
President-elect Trump’s selection to lead the White House’s budget told lawmakers on Wednesday he may consider withholding funds appropriated by Congress and defended the removal of civil service protections for some employees as necessary to ensure good governance. 

Russ Vought, Office of Management and Budget director-designate, drew criticism from both sides of the aisle for his refusal to confirm he would follow congressional spending laws when distributing funds to agencies, noting Trump has called existing restrictions unconstitutional and he would follow the president’s directives. Vought, who has taken an often adversarial approach with the federal civil service, suggested again the bureaucracy has been weaponized and that reforms were necessary to undo that reality.  



Vought served as OMB’s deputy director from early in the first Trump administration and then took over as acting OMB head in January 2019. He was confirmed by the Senate for that post in July 2020. During his tenure, Vought repeatedly submitted budgets that would have gutted non-defense agencies and spearheaded efforts to remove civil service protections for much of the federal workforce.



Vought won broad support from Republicans on the committee and sweeping concern from Democrats in equal measure. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said at the top of the hearing that he supported Vought’s nomination and felt confident he would, in collaboration with the Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy-led, non-governmental Department of Government Efficiency, slash federal spending. 



“Mr. Vought has been a consistent advocate for fiscal sanity and has continually suggested strategies to decrease excess spending,” Paul said. 



The former White House official played a key role in implementing Trump’s deregulatory agenda, including by removing agencies’ capacity to issue guidance without going through the formal rulemaking proce ..

Support the originator by clicking the read the rest link below.