Maggie Hassan: “I rise today to join my colleagues in expressing my opposition to the President's nominee for the Director of the Office…”

“I rise today to join my colleagues in expressing my opposition to the President's nominee for the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Mr. Russell Vought, and to join the millions of Americans who have been gravely alarmed by the President's order to cut off already appropriated Federal funds for communities all across the country, a move which has been a longstanding priority for Mr. Vought. I can think of few people more dangerous and deeply unsuited for the role of director of the Office of Management and Budget, or OMB, than Mr. Vought. It is not simply that Mr. Vought's proposals will devastate communities across our country--though, if enacted, they certainly will. It is not simply that Mr. Vought's values are deeply out of step with the majority of Americans--though, they are. And it is not simply that Mr. Vought has demonstrated a complete lack of regard for the notion of government by consent of the governed-- though, time and again, he has done just that. It is because in the President's order to cut all funding for all Federal grants, a passion project straight from the pages of Mr. Vought, the President's reckless and illegal actions have already thrown communities into chaos, and they have hurt the American people. Any nomination for a senior post in an administration is, to a degree, an act of faith. We never fully know the manner in which someone will perform their duties until they are in the post. But with Mr.…”