FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, January 30, 2025
PRESS CONTACT:
nicole@focalpointstrategygroup.com
WASHINGTON, DC – Following President Trump’s chaotic second week in office and backpedaling of the federal funding freeze, Democrats are pushing to delay the confirmation process for OMB nominee Russell Vought. The latest reports indicate that Vought is already calling the shots at OMB, leaving White House staff out of key decisions that impact the entire government, and wreaking havoc for families and businesses across the country. In response, Congressional Integrity Project Senior Advisor Kyle Herrig issued the following statement on behalf of the Checks and Balances War Room:
“After the chaos of the last 48 hours, it’s surprising President Trump hasn’t already decided to fire Russ Vought before he even takes the job. Senate Republicans would do the President a favor by rejecting his nomination as OMB Director. If the White House thinks the disastrous rollout of Vought’s funding freeze plan was bad press for the President, it’ll only worsen once his plan is in full effect. Confirming Vought now would just set the stage for an even bigger embarrassment down the line, likely ending with his firing within a few months.
Senate Budget Chair Lindsey Graham’s decision to hold Vought’s committee confirmation markup outside of the hearing room, away from the public eye, speaks volumes. It’s a blatant attempt to shield this disastrous nomination from the scrutiny it deserves. It’s clear the Republicans fear the backlash and are hoping to keep a video record of the decision from surfacing to the public.”
BACKGROUND ON RUSS VOUGHT’S DANGEROUS PLANS:
Vought falsely contends that the Trump administration can unilaterally cancel spending appropriated by Congress, through a process known as impoundment.
- Vought has built an agenda for using impoundment and challenging the Constitution, allowing Trump to ignore the will of Congress. Vought’s Center for Renewing America and Project 2025 created the roadmap for the President to deploy impoundments and ignore laws passed by Congress without a vote.
- Impoundment violates the Constitution. Article I, Section 9, Clause 7 of the Constitution (the Appropriations Clause) states: “No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law.” This clause is “the power or the purse” exclusively vested to Congress. It ensures Congress—as the representatives of the people—retains sole authority over federal spending decisions. The Framers gave this power to Congress to prevent unilateral control of public funds by the executive.
Russ Vought is a leading proponent of impoundment.
- Vought advocated for impoundment while serving as the OMB director at the end of Trump’s first term, saying in a letter that the Impoundment Control Act “is unworkable in practice and should be significantly reformed or repealed.”
- This letter came after Trump’s OMB violated the law and used impoundment to withhold aid from Ukraine while Vought was deputy director.
- After leaving the Trump administration, Vought founded a think tank that, together with Project 2025, creates the roadmap for deploying impoundments to ignore Congressional laws without a vote.
- Vought’s think tank has encouraged $2 trillion in cuts to Medicaid, more than $600 billion in cuts to the Affordable Care Act.
At the OMB, Vought would lead Trump’s effort to ignore spending laws passed by Congress and usurp Congress’s power of the purse.
- Vought served in leadership the last time Trump’s OMB helped him illegally use impoundment for his political agenda.
- Vought himself wrote a chapter in Project 2025 outlining how OMB could help a president amass unchecked executive power.