Senate Republicans unanimously voted to advance Russell Vought, President Donald Trump’s pick to head the Office of Management and Budget, through the Senate Budget Committee on Thursday.
Despite Senate Democrats’ efforts to boycott the vote altogether, Vought’s nomination will now be considered by the whole Senate.
‘They chose not to be here. It’s their right not to be here.’
Vought’s advancement comes just days after the Trump administration implemented a federal funding freeze on billions of dollars of loans and grants. The OMB announced the freeze in a memo Monday night, citing the need for a thorough ideological review of existing programs.
“The use of federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and Green New Deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve,” the memo reads. “This memorandum requires federal agencies to identify and review all federal financial assistance programs and supporting activities consistent with the president’s policies and requirements.”
“Financial assistance should be dedicated to advancing American priorities, focusing taxpayer dollars to advance a stronger and safer America, eliminating the financial burden of inflation for citizens unleashing American energy and manufacturing, ending ‘wokeness’ and the weaponization of government, promoting efficiency in government, and Making America Healthy Again,” the memo reads.
The freeze caused a frenzy among Democrats, prompting senators on the left side of the aisle to boycott the procedural vote for Vought’s nomination altogether. Notably, Vought has not yet held a role or served in the OMB during Trump’s current administration.
“They’re not here,” Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said Thursday, referring to the Democrats. “They chose not to be here. It’s their right not to be here.”
The administration later rescinded the memo in order to “end any confusion created by the court’s injunction.”
Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified Wednesday that the president’s executive orders on “federal funding remain in full force and effect and will be rigorously implemented.”
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