Senate Republicans on Thursday confirmed Russell Vought, President Trump’s pick to lead the Office of Budget and Management (OMB), in the face of mounting Democratic attacks over his ties to Project 2025 and the president’s efforts targeting funding already approved by Congress.
The Senate voted 53-47 along party lines to confirm Vought on Thursday night.
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Republicans lining up behind Vought have cited his experience as OMB chief during Trump’s first term in office. Some have also lauded his past proposals to reduce federal spending, as the president and his allies have sought to undertake significant cost-cutting efforts in a bid to make the government more “efficient.”
“While I was disappointed to see our nation’s annual budget deficit grow during President Trump’s first term, I remain optimistic about President Trump’s nominee, Russell Vought,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a staunch conservative and head of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said of Vought during the panel’s confirmation hearing last month.
He also described Vought as “a consistent advocate for fiscal sanity and has continually suggested strategies to decrease excess spending.”
Democrats have railed against Vought’s nomination in hearings in recent weeks, as well in a spate of press conferences.
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They have seized his past work as founder of the think tank Center for Renewing America and his involvement as a key architect behind Project 2025 — the conservative blueprint produced by the Heritage Foundation that was often the target of Democratic attacks during the 2024 presidential election cycle.
The attacks have only ramped up in wake of Trump’s recent orders targeting federal funding approved under the previous administration, including dollars for climate and infrastructure laws. The orders have sparked widespread uncertainty about the programs at stake as the administration faces legal challenges over the moves.
“He is the architect of the dismantling of our federal government, harming us with Medicaid portals shut down, with Head Start shut down, with agencies illegally stormed and the servers being seized, we’ve got to fight back,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), a senior appropriator, said Wednesday, referring to Vought.
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The senator made the comments ahead of remarks on the Senate floor, as he and other Democrats delivered hours of speeches in a rare overnight session on late Wednesday in protest of Vought’s nomination.
Vought’s stance on the Impoundment Control Act, which sets limits on the president’s powers to restrict funding approved by Congress, has also drawn attention in recent weeks. While Vought has vowed the administration will uphold the law, he has reiterated his position in hearings that the measure is unconstitutional.
