Laura Barron-Lopez:
Geoff, the Republican senators welcomed this nomination, focusing more their questions on how OMB and the Trump administration would slash what they consider wasteful spending.
But Democrats pressed Vought on his track record. When he was OMB director during the first administration, under his leadership, the Budget Office delayed disaster relief to Puerto Rico. And it also withheld funds appropriated by Congress for Ukraine.
And so at the heart of those questions from Democrats is what’s known as impoundment authority, Geoff. And Vought said that he believes that impoundment authority is unconstitutional. Now, what is that? Under the law, the president is forbidden from clawing back, from declining to spend funds that are appropriated by Congress for government agencies.
But Vought made clear he thinks it’s unconstitutional and that the president, the incoming president, thinks it’s unconstitutional. And that could very well — they would test the limits of it and draw a court challenge.
He was also repeatedly asked about his support of replacing career civil servants across agencies and firing them and replacing them with political appointees who would put President Trump first.
