Russell Vought, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to direct the Office of Management and Budget, faced tense questioning from both Democrat and Republican senators during his confirmation hearing Wednesday.
When Vought previously served in the same office during the first Trump administration, he helped Trump design a new classification for federal employees—“Schedule F”—to reclassify tens of thousands as essentially at-will workers who were more accountable to a president and would be less likely to hinder him in carrying out his policies. Such employees could be fired more easily by the administration rather than being protected by the bureaucracy.
President Joe Biden eliminated this classification in the first days of his administration, and in April 2024, implemented a rule granting federal employees future protection from a future Trump administration’s revival of Schedule F.
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Rand Paul, R-Ky., sympathetic to Vought’s goal of paring down the bureaucracy, praised Vought in his opening remarks while also condemning the increase in the national debt under the first Trump administration.
“Since taking office four years ago, President Biden has added $8.4 trillion to our national debt. To be fair, the Trump administration added $7.8 trillion to the national debt. This is truly a bipartisan problem,” said Paul.
“While I was disappointed to see our nation’s annual budget deficit grow for President Trump’s first term, I remain optimistic about President Trump’s nominee, Russell Vought.”
Paul’s lukewarm welcome paled in comparison to Michigan Democrat Sen. Gary Peters’ full-on attack, as he accused the nominee of a politically biased war against civil servants with his creation of the Schedule F employee classification.
“I’m deeply concerned by another action you pushed for during your time in the OMB to replace nearly 50,000 nonpartisan career civil servants with appointees whose only qualification is that they’re politically loyal—not that they’re competent, not that they follow the law,” said Peters, who proceeded to accuse Vought of calling civil servants “villains” as well.
Vought then took the floor for his opening statement, pledging to eliminate government waste.
“When I look at government waste, international debt, I know I fear for my daughters’ future,” said Vought. He added that his focus would be “reforming regulation and coordinating policies across agencies to ensure efficient and effective implementation of the American people’s will.”
Peters once again went on the offensive when given the opportunity to question Vought, as he stridently accused him of violating the law by intentionally delaying spending money already approved by Congress.
“I’m concerned about your actions and statements about the president, who will be able to unilaterally refuse to spend money that Congress has appropriated,” said Peters. “How do we negotiate with someone who says, ‘I’m just going to do what I want, to hell with the Constitution’?”
Vought, visibly uncomfortable yet seemingly determined in the face of Peters’ questioning, denied the senator’s accusations of withholding congressionally approved funding.
The fiscally conservative Paul took Peters’ side on the issue, telling Vought, “I’m sympathetic to the point Sen. Peters is making. … I think if we appropriate something for a cause, that’s where it’s supposed to go, and that will still be my position.”
Although Vought did receive more friendly treatment from Sens. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., the stand-out moments of the hearing were the attacks by both libertarian-minded Paul and progressive Peters.
