[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 24 (Wednesday, February 5, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S743-S745]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      Nomination of Russell Vought

  Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, now I would like to go back to my 
concerns about the nomination of Russ Vought to be the head of the 
Office of Management and Budget because that is an office that 
determines the services that millions of families and small businesses 
rely on. And yet he supported unilaterally taking away those services 
and help for more than 2,600 Federal programs that were ordered to 
cease activities with less than 24 hours' notice.
  And in every State in the country, we heard confusion and panic and 
chaos. Since then, I have heard from thousands of Granite Staters who 
are worried about what those cuts mean for them and their families. I 
have heard from healthcare providers from our community health centers, 
from our nonprofits, from our police departments, from so many people 
who provide services to the State of New Hampshire.
  And it has now been more than a week, and despite not one but two 
Federal judges ordering the Trump administration to stop holding up 
funds, we are still hearing reports of frozen payment systems and 
missed reimbursements. I know my Republican colleagues are hearing 
those concerns, too. But despite this outpouring, we are still here 
today contemplating confirming Russell Vought, the architect of this 
reckless, unprecedented, and misguided policy.

  He was directly involved in drafting the memo that OMB sent out that 
started all of this last Monday. That memo was so extreme that it 
provoked concern and outrage from both sides of the aisle about the 
breadth of payments that were being halted.
  Russ Vought then had to walk back parts of the memo that he worked on 
just the day before. And all of this happened, and he wasn't even a 
confirmed nominee. I am very worried about what he is going to do if he 
actually gets confirmed for this job. We know from what we saw that 
last week was just a short preview of what he plans to do.
  The justification that we have heard since that memo is that the memo 
wasn't meant to cut off funding to all of the programs that saw their 
funding

[[Page S744]]

halted. It wasn't meant to stop Medicaid in every State or to shut down 
HUD's system of rental assistance or homelessness funding. But I will 
tell you, if that is your defense, that just means that OMB sent a memo 
that was so poorly drafted that Agencies across the Federal Government 
thought it required them to cut off all these programs that people and 
towns depend on.
  So either the OMB, under Russell Vought's direction, deliberately 
stopped funding for 2,600 programs for water and sewer projects, for 
housing, for meals for seniors, or they were so incompetent that 
without meaning to, they sent a memo to the whole Federal Government 
that had that effect.
  Well, regardless of which answer it is, I think the person who is 
behind that, Russ Vought, the man leading that effort, should not be 
running the Office of Management and Budget that determines how funding 
goes out in the Federal Government. I think this is especially true 
because there is no question that Russ Vought and President Trump 
intend to take away some of the funding that Congress has provided on a 
bipartisan basis to help families in New Hampshire and around the 
country save money on things like their energy bills, to help address 
pollution, like PFAS.
  I would just remind folks that we passed the bipartisan 
infrastructure law on a strong bipartisan vote. Nineteen Republican 
Senators voted with the Democrats to invest in our communities. We 
worked shoulder to shoulder, Republicans and Democrats, to prioritize 
things like energy efficiency, water infrastructure--funding that this 
administration says it is looking at cutting off even though 
communities are depending on it.
  Well, I plan to continue to stand up and defend funding that Congress 
provides to make necessary investments in all of our communities. I 
hope my Republican colleagues will do the same.
  Then this past weekend, we learned that Elon Musk, the world's 
richest man, who has never been elected, along with unelected, 
unconfirmed DOGE employees--the ``DOGE boys,'' we call them--now has 
access to the payment system at the Treasury Department. That is a 
system that processes more than $5 trillion worth of payments every 
year. That is everything from tax refunds and Social Security checks to 
reimbursing towns for work they are doing on sewers or roads. They have 
access to Social Security numbers, to health information, and so much 
more.
  This is a system that the vast majority of people working at Treasury 
can't access and they shouldn't be able to because this is private 
information.
  You may have heard that Treasury only gave ``read only'' access, but 
if that is the case, why is Elon Musk talking about using this access 
to stop payments to a charity that helps seniors with housing? What is 
he doing in the Treasury records anyway? Why does he need that 
information?
  This week, we are hearing confirmation that Musk's team didn't just 
have ``read'' access. In fact, they had administrator-level access, 
giving them the ability to make changes to this payment system.
  One specific Treasury employee refuted Treasury leadership's denial 
that they gave a DOGE staffer write access. That is the ability to 
change the code and to change the checks that get sent out by Treasury. 
The employee said:

       I am looking at his access request right now, and it has 
     the Deputy Assistant Commissioner instructing the team to 
     disregard all previous instructions and assign him--

  The DOGE person--

     read/write privileges for the database.

  So he can change what is in that database. That doesn't sound like 
read-only access to me.
  I think it is unacceptable for an unelected billionaire to be taking 
over the payment system that our government relies on--that millions of 
Americans rely on--and trying to stop those payments.
  Fortunately, the original OMB memo is rescinded, but this fight is 
not over. Instead, this access to the Treasury's payment system could 
be the next front in stopping funds going out to the American people.

  We can and we do intend to continue to push back on these illegal 
actions to stop funding that is required by law.
  Despite knowing better, Russell Vought has never shied away from his 
belief that the executive branch can disregard the law and override 
spending decisions that are made by Congress. He clearly believes that 
this administration should be above the law and should be able to take 
away funding that helps millions of Americans.
  Russ Vought is the architect of Project 2025. That proposed a budget 
that would cut Medicaid--just Medicaid--by $2.1 trillion over 10 years. 
It would slash SNAP, the food program, by $400 billion. We have people 
in New Hampshire who count on the SNAP program in order to be able to 
feed their kids. His proposal would cut funding that helps low-income 
Americans go to college by more than $250 billion. It would eliminate 
the Affordable Care Act tax credits that help millions of Americans 
afford healthcare.
  These are not cuts that lower costs. These are not cuts that create 
jobs. These are not cuts that enhance public safety and make it easier 
for people to afford their rent and their groceries. It is beyond 
ridiculous that anyone could propose these cuts with a straight face 
while also supporting trillions of dollars in tax breaks for the 
wealthiest individuals and corporations in this country.
  I am not one to claim that the Federal Government can't be run more 
efficiently. I think we can always do everything better, and it is 
important to all Americans to make sure that our government runs 
effectively and efficiently. But indiscriminately freezing hiring 
across the board and pushing out thousands of civil servants makes that 
problem worse, not better.
  Last week, more than 2 million Federal employees received emails 
offering to pay their salaries for the rest of the fiscal year in 
exchange for resigning now. I mean, that in and of itself is 
questionable because this Congress hasn't appropriated dollars to pay 
those employees. And why would somebody who wants to improve the 
effectiveness and efficiency in government pay people to go home and 
not work? That is what this email said.
  At the time, this included hundreds of thousands of individuals 
working in critical national security roles. It included, for example, 
every single air traffic controller in the country just days before we 
tragically saw the worst aviation incident in nearly 30 years. They 
have since walked that offer back, stating that it should not apply to 
employees who are critical to national security.
  But, like the claim of the funding freeze, they say that was always 
their intent, that they must have made a mistake. I am not sure which 
option is worse--that we are short more than 3,500 air traffic 
controllers and Russell Vought really wanted to pay the ones we do have 
not to work or that he blasted out an irresponsible, reckless, 
nontargeted effort that could have had devastating consequences for 
critical positions without taking the time to think it through.
  What is more, they tried to convince us this offer will save money, 
making it clear that even if we lose thousands of key employees with no 
plans to replace them, we will be better off. Well, tell that to the 
people in New Hampshire who are trying to get answers on their Social 
Security or their income tax checks; tell that to the students who need 
help with their FAFSA form so they can apply and get help to go to 
college.
  Vought has relentlessly attacked the millions of career civil 
servants who show up every day, no matter who is in power, to keep the 
lights on and the wheels turning. Some of these have served our country 
for 30, 40, even 50 years, through countless Presidents and Congresses. 
We are not talking about political appointees here; we are talking 
about people who write the checks at the Social Security 
Administration, about the caseworkers at the Department of Housing and 
Urban Development who make sure that people have roofs over their heads 
and food to eat.
  We are talking about doctors and therapists at VA hospitals who work 
around the clock to provide lifesaving care and benefits to the 
veterans who have sacrificed so much for our country and program 
operators at the Small Business Association who help entrepreneurs get 
loans.
  They are the forest rangers who show up in all weather conditions--
like the

[[Page S745]]

White Mountain Forest in New Hampshire--to ensure there are safe and 
enjoyable recreational opportunities for hundreds of millions of 
visitors to our national parks and forests.
  Speaking of the weather, there are the meteorologists at the National 
Weather Service, the people we rely on to prepare for hazardous storms.
  These employees contribute to the maintenance of nuclear submarines, 
which is an essential tenet of our national security, a crucial part of 
our capability to deter major conflicts. Any impact to our shipyard--we 
have the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard between New Hampshire and Maine that 
does maintenance on our nuclear submarines. Any impact to that 
workforce will strain our shipbuilding industrial base that is already 
saturated with demands to meet the requirements of our Navy. So why did 
they get an email giving those employees the option to resign?
  This administration has said repeatedly that it wants to restore the 
``warrior ethos'' at the Pentagon, but if Russell Vought gets his way, 
there isn't going to be anybody left at the Pentagon.
  Now, we are hearing that Elon Musk's team is plugging into our air 
traffic control system. The National Air Traffic Controllers 
Association has repeatedly asked for what they need--more funding, 
targeted investments in workforce development, shorter hours, and 
upgraded technology. We need to get to work in this Senate, in this 
Congress, on legislation that addresses these issues. Handing the keys 
to the Nation's air traffic control system over to an unelected, 
inexperienced billionaire who cuts first and asks questions later isn't 
the solution.
  Russell Vought will tell you over and over again that government 
doesn't work, but he says this at the same time that he is doing 
everything in his power to break it, with zero regard for how that is 
going to hurt you and your family.
  This week, we have seen and we heard more horrifying parts of Russell 
Vought's agenda. He is teaming up with Elon Musk.
  Last year, for the first time, thanks to PEPFAR, more than half of 
new HIV infections were outside of Sub-Saharan Africa--one of the most 
successful health programs ever in U.S. history, put in by George W. 
Bush. One of the only things that has stood between Americans and so 
many of the diseases that come from overseas is USAID.
  I was listening to the Prayer Breakfast this morning. I heard 
President Trump talking about his admiration for Billy Graham, for 
Franklin Graham, for the good work that they do. Then a few minutes 
later, I heard the morning news, and I heard them talking about what is 
happening in Sudan, where we have a famine and millions of people 
desperate because of a conflict there and what is happening.
  The news report said: If we don't get our foreign assistance turned 
back on to help the Sudanese, 8 million people are going to starve to 
death in the coming months.
  I can't imagine that Billy Graham or Franklin Graham would have 
supported or supports the idea of 8 million Sudanese dying because we 
have turned off the foreign assistance that we provided because Elon 
Musk doesn't like the U.S. Agency for International Development. I 
think Billy Graham and Franklin Graham--Billy Graham when he was alive 
and his son Franklin--would say: These are also God's children, and it 
is important for us to support people around the world who are dying.
  You know, it is not just those kinds of situations like we have in 
Sudan. We have significant diseases that are breaking out in parts of 
the world, and we don't have people on the ground. There is the 
outbreak of Ebola that is happening in Africa. Some of us remember in 
2014 when Ebola came to the United States. We don't have any aid 
workers anymore because, under Elon Musk's order, they have shut down 
those programs. They are bringing those people home. So there is nobody 
there to make sure that that Ebola outbreak doesn't go across borders 
and doesn't wind up in the United States.
  There is a Marburg outbreak--another hemorrhagic disease--that is 
happening in Africa. It has a 90-percent mortality rate. Right now, we 
have no real treatment and no vaccination for the Marburg virus. Yet, 
again, we have taken our teams of people who have helped in-country to 
treat the Marburg virus--we have taken them home. We have said: Go 
ahead. Cross whatever country lines you want. Come to the United States 
because we are not going to prevent that.
  And do you know we have got a bird flu epidemic now? You may have 
heard there is a new strain that has just been discovered in a house in 
Nevada. We have had about 70 people who have been infected with bird 
flu. We have had somebody die from that. We used to monitor bird flu 
outbreaks around the world, but under this shutdown of USAID and its 
programs, we are not monitoring bird flu anymore. So that bird flu can 
come to the United States. We don't know. Nobody seems to care in the 
Trump administration if that happens.
  These things don't just happen overseas. They affect us here in 
America. It is in our interest to ensure that these efforts that help 
with diseases and that help prevent Vladimir Putin and Russia from 
their nefarious activities in Europe and Moldova and Romania and 
Ukraine. That has also happened, the aid to help Ukraine in this war 
against Russia. That has all been cut off. That doesn't make America 
safer. That doesn't make us stronger. That doesn't make us more 
prosperous.
  I hope my colleagues will stand against Russell Vought, who has been 
the architect of so much of this carnage. Sadly, I don't think my 
colleagues on the other side of the aisle will do that. I hope that we 
can reverse some of this harm that is being done to so many people 
around the world that is going to come home to roost in America if we 
don't address it.
  So I have taken all of my time.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, today, we will vote on the nomination of 
Russ Vought to be the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
  Mr. Vought served as the OMB Director for much of President Trump's 
first term, and before that, he was Deputy Director of the same Agency. 
So he is clearly qualified for this job.
  My discussions with Mr. Vought focused on the Nation's dismal fiscal 
trajectory, overregulation, congressional oversight, and respect for 
whistleblowers.
  With the Federal Government running a $2 trillion annual deficit and 
a national debt approaching $37 trillion, a fiscally sound budget is 
more important than ever, and I am counting on Mr. Vought to help the 
President chart a new fiscal path that will not be an easy job.
  In addition to reining in spending, Mr. Vought understands the need 
to cut redtape. For too long, overzealous and unelected bureaucracies 
have sought to use regulation to stretch the meaning of laws beyond 
congressional intent. The Supreme Court's recent decision, last year, 
in Loper Bright should be used by OMB to place a check on out-of-
control rulemaking.
  Mr. Vought and I also had a good discussion on the importance of 
responding to congressional letters and respecting whistleblowers. He 
not only agreed with me but expressed an interest in helping ensure 
timely responses to Congress and respect for whistleblowers as the norm 
across government Agencies. I look forward to working with Mr. Vought 
to right-size the Federal Government.