Calif., questioned Russell Vought, President Trump's nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget, about whether or not he would "politicize" disaster relief funds during his confirmation hearing.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) grilled Russell Vought, President Trump’s nominee to lead the White House Office of Management and Budget, over a budget proposal created at the think tank where he worked, during Wednesday’s Senate Budget confirmation hearing.

Russell Vought, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be Director of the Office of Management and Budget, poses for a photo with Cabinet picks, other nominees and appointments, at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Senate hearings for Trump’s Cabinet nominees progress this week, with Russell Vought (OMB) and Brooke Rollins (Agriculture) set for January 22 and 23. Other nominees, like Lori Chavez-DeRemer and Tulsi Gabbard,

Russell Vought, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be the next director of the Office of Management and Budget, faced tough questioning from Democrats.

If confirmed, Mr. Vought will be at the center of President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to upend the federal bureaucracy.

Vought was OMB director during Trump’s first term. He already had a hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

If confirmed to lead the Office of Management and Budget, Vought would wreak havoc on clean energy investments.

After Trump's defeat, Vought founded the Center for Renewing America, a conservative think tank. In speeches he made in 2023 and 2024, Vought described how he helped create legal justifications to prevent military leaders and government lawyers from obstructing Trump's executive actions, ProPublica reported.

Russell T. Vought, President Trump’s nominee to run the Office of Management and Budget, said he supported work requirements for the program that supports low-income Americans.

On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed the Senate’s version of the Laken Riley Act, which allows for the deportation and detention of any undocumented immigrant merely suspected of a nonviolent crime, with 46 Democrats joining every Republican in approving the bill.