WASHINGTON — The Senate Budget Committee sent Russell Vought's nomination to lead the Office of Management and Budget, or OMB, to the full Senate in an 11-0 vote.
Republicans on the Senate Budget Committee advanced Vought's nomination despite the Democratic members' boycott of the vote. Because of the Democrats' absence from the meeting, Republicans had to wait an unusually long time for their members to come in from other obligations to cast their vote.
"They're not here. They chose not to be here. It's their right not to be here," Senate Budget Committee Chairman Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said.
Vought, a former director of the Office of Management and Budget, and an architect of Project 2025, has explicitly laid out plans to shrink the size and influence of the federal government, particularly its workforce. His plans will affect not just financial regulatory agencies, but also the economy far beyond Washington as courts decide how to grapple with President Donald Trump's actions on federal aid and spending, which includes programs such as federal housing assistance in rural areas and small-business lending.
"We want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected," Vought said in videos obtained by ProPublica. "When they wake up in the morning, we want them to not want to go to work because they are increasingly viewed as the villains."
Vought is one of the
He follows in the footsteps of Mick Mulvaney, who served as head of the office and also head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
No announcement has been made as to who in the Trump administration will lead the CFPB, but should Vought be confirmed by the full Senate, he could be on a short list of those who could take control of the bureau. That's because a provision in the Vacancies Act demands a Senate-confirmed agency head in lieu of having the second-most-senior CFPB leader inherit the agency should current Director Rohit Chopra be dismissed.
The floor vote on Vought's confirmation will likely take place next week.
