kim: within omb? mr. vought: not within omb. sen. kim: at the end of your term as director you implemented schedule f and as well at omb, dear member what percentage of personnel you categorized as schedule f? mr. vought: we implemented it at 90%. that was not to fire anyone, it was to change their classification. sen. kim: what is the purpose for changing the classification? mr. vought: it's to ensure the president who has policy-setting responsibility, has individuals who are also confidential policymaking positions, responding to his views, his agenda -- and he works under the same basis most americans work on, he has to do a good job. or they may not be in those positions for long and i didn't find that to be the case with regard to anyone in omb. sen. kim: but you thought that was necessary to take the step and hang that over them? mr. vought: the president had a policy and he instructed all agency heads to use schedule f classification. omb is essentially all policymaking officials and that's why we had a higher percentage and

and deputy director of omb . unfortunately your record and actions in these roles raise serious concerns. about how you're going to leave this critical agency that touches literally every single part of the federal government. above all i am concerned by actions you took to demonstrate a total disregard for following the laws that congress has passed. particularly regarding on how to spend taxpayer dollars. the constitution as part of the key checks and balances following our democracy gives congress the responsibility to decide how federal resources should be spent. federal courts have consistently affirmed this congresses role and not the president. it's congresses role. as a member of the navy reserve and as a member of the senate i swore an oath to uphold and follow our constitution. my expectation that if confirmed you will do the same. yet teduring your time at omb you consistently ignored laws passed by congress that directed how taxpayer dollars should be spent. in 2020 an investigation by the government

>> asking the asking director of omb for russell votes activities that omb because of the white houseress secretary's comments about it. have you gotten a response? can you tell us more broadly? >> we have not gotten a response we've seen a recording that he was involved in preparing for the dark of night destruction of these programs for families and that it was vought, mr. vought who then assembled in a crisis fashion the directors to repair their response. one of the questions that we have asked the administration is he on the payroll. is he a senior advisor? we did not receive those answers anyone else. >> i know some of you have expressed wanting to get rid of the filibuster in the past. too big gop bills. the filibuster could go away. >> i've always advocated for the talking filibuster. it is the right pathway to go on that would have given us the power to do exactly what we are doing right now. yes, ma'am. >> is it because vought was not held? you guys do have these frequently out of the floor. the republican control. if the vote had been moved to a hearing room and we could ha

he appears to be acting as omb director without being confirmed. one of the questions we have asked the administration is, is he on the payroll? is he a senior advisor? is it appropriate for him to serve in a capacity he has not been confirmed to? we have not received the answers. >> i know some of you have expressed the desire to get rid of the filibuster. democrats have used the filibuster to stop two gop bills , do you still feel -- >> i have advocated for the talking filibuster. it is the right path to go on. that is not the topic for today. it would have given us the power to do what we are doing right now. >> because the vote was not held on camera for the public to watch, various committees, the press -- had the vote been on camera would you have participated? >> yes. if the vote had been moved to a hearing room and every member of the committee had expressed their views, we confirmed we would be there. we were told it was too bad, we are not doing it that way. we will only allow the ranking member to make comments. the gravity of this is wh

he was the architect of the omb memo. he will be the architect of more losses for president trump if he keeps vote on the team. there's no doubt about it. this memo was a catastrophe. and i assume president trump will hold those behind this memo accountable or he's going to get into more and more trouble if he follows their dictate. if donald trump is actually decided and finally, to put the needs of americans first, he must rescind the nomination of russell vote immediately. though the trump administration failed in this tactic, it's no secret they will come back again and again and again. the trump administration and feeling the heat rescinded this heartless memo. but it's also clear by their intent they still plan to freeze funding in this way or another way. and whatever hoops they may try to jump through, we know they will come back at this again and again and again because their billionaire buddies want to implement project 2025 and they will try any which way they can to get it done. but whenever they do, i promise

the director of omb plays a pivotal role in our economy, especially now. our government is over $36 trillion in debt and the congressional budget office brixon average of about $2 trillion per year for the next 10 years, no end in sight. we need someone with the strength of character like mr. vote to put the hammer down and say enough is enough. he is well-qualified for this role, having previously served as a director in official and acting capacity, as well as being deputy director. as director he will be tasked with spearheading the president budget, and overseeing agency use of funds. coordinating agency activities across the federal government and working with elon musk and vivek ramaswamy's department of government efficiency. however, unless the new administration has the courage to tackle reform, the national debt will explode. i support his nomination and i remain hopeful the incoming administration will take the necessary steps to restore fiscal sanity. with that i would like to recognize senator peters. sen. peters: thank you for being here with

that is why omb sent out this memo last night. the president signed an executive order directing omb to do just this. the reason is to ensure that every penny going out the door is not conflict with the executive orders and actions that this president has taken. what does this pause mean? means no more funding for illegal dei programs. no more funding for the green scam that has cost american taxpayers tens of billions of dollars. it means no more funding for transgender is him -- change gender -- transgenderism. again, people receiving individual assistance, you will continue to receive that. president trump is looking out for you by issuing this pause because he is being a good steward of your taxpayer dollars. >> how long is this pause going to last, and how is the trump administration recommending organizations that rely on federal funding make payroll, pay their rent in the meantime? sec. leavitt: it is a temporary pause and the office of management and budget is reviewing the federal funding going out the door. again, not fo

the president has created doge in addition to omb. he has already put out an eo to put -- to unleash american agency and then have all of the agencies to trying get permits going and to be able to get regulations that are binding. the pursuit of american energy and then the regulatory process of getting that back up and running. the president has given us a new goal. now we have a 10 for one goal and we think we can hit that. we overshot the first goal and we think that we will do our best to hit that goal. those are all things that will be impacting the bottom line and the pocketbook of the person that moved to florida for that precise reason. sen. scott: so, if we do not -- you have seen senator ron johnson's work about how much the budget it just grown. if you look at the and placement -- the inflation adjustment since clinton and obama it is staggering. what is the chance that we will see a significant reduction in interest rates, that are hurting people. what is the chance that we will see inflation come under control if we do no

again, he was omb director under the first trump term. you have done it once and you want to do it again and we are glad you are willing to do it again. >> thank you very much. congratulations on your new role. i look forward to working with you. welcome to the committee. senator cornyn, senator ricketts, and senator marino, welcome. this congress, the senate budget committee is going to be deeply engaged in the policies that emerge because reconciliation is going to play a central role and reconciliation begins right here in this room. we will consider trump's budget request and i must say my deepest concern about the reconciliation bills are that they are going to betray working americans. working americans who listened to the strategies he laid out that he proposed. but certainly the actual plan does not help working people. the acting plan is to help them, how are these massive giveaways going to be paid for? well, by slashing services to working families and struggling families trying to get on their feet trying to thrive and get to

omb to do just this. and the reason for this is to ensure that every penny that is going out the door is not conflicting with the executive orders and actions that this president has taken. so what is this pause mean? it means no more funding for illegal di programs. it means no more funding for the green new scam that has cost american taxpayers tens of billions of dollars. it means no more funding for transgenderism and wokeness across our federal bureaucracy and agencies. no more funding for green new deal social engineering policies. again, people who are receiving individual assistance assistance, you will continue to receive that. and president trump is looking out for you by issuing this pause, because he is being good stewards of your taxpayer dollars. >> thanks, caroline. >> sure. >> how long is. >> this pause going. >> to last? >> and how is the trump administration recommending that organizations that rely on federal funding make. >> payroll. >> pay their rent? in the meantime? >> it is a tempo

it is simply a rescission of the omb memo. why?y confusion created by the court's injunction, the president's ios on federal funding, meaning executive orders on federal funding, remain in full force and effect and will be rigorously implemented. let's bring in nbc news senior white house correspondent kelly o'donnell. also joining me, charlie dent, a former seven term republican congressman from pennsylvania. i think the point of this was to clear up any confusion. i'm not sure that people won't be more confused. help us understand what's going on, kelly. >> well, we're taking people into what would be a part of our reporting process, chris, as you understand so well, we normally wouldn't be talking about these issues until we. had firmer answers, but we're sort of in the flow of how it is coming out. what the white house is doing is taking a specific memo off the table. that is the one that triggered all the questions in state houses and nonprofits and all kinds of agencies. >> around the country. they are. >> removing that. they

vought becomes the head of omb. it's one of the most important agencies in the government. they oversee every federal agency, every town, every locality, every family is is going to be affected. you want to get your drug prices lower? vought doesn't like that. look at 2025. you want to feed hungry kids? vought doesn't like that. look at 2025. you want to preserve and expand $30 insulin. vought doesn't like that. you want to make the tax system fairer and not have tax cuts for the wealthy but help the middle class? vought doesn't like that. he wants it to go to the wealthy. he was in my office yesterday. i asked him, what part of 2025 would with you disagree with? he couldn't point to a single one. in this panoply of awful proposals, he couldn't name a single one he didn't like. he's also a proponent of impoundment of funds. it may be unconstitutional, but it could cause real damage, as the cases would go through the courts when he sued for it. that means he can pick what he doesn't like and just end it even if congress has voted for it in a bipartisan way. so this man would

omb to do just this. and the reason for this is to ensure that every penny that is going out the door is not conflicting with the executive orders and actions that this president has taken. so what is this pause mean? it means no more funding for illegal d programs. it means no more funding for the green new scam that has cost american taxpayers tens of billions of dollars. it means no more funding for transgenderism and wokeness across our federal bureaucracy and agencies. no more funding for green new deal social engineering policies. again, people who are receiving individual assistance assistance. you will continue to receive that. and president trump is looking out for you by issuing this pause, because he is being good stewards of your taxpayer dollars thanks, caroline. sure. how long. >> is. >> this pause going to. >> last? >> and how is the trump administration recommending that. organizations that rely on federal funding make payroll, pay their rent? in the meantime? >> it is a temporary pause in

donald trump rescinded the omb order.should rescind the nomination of russell vought. >> bret: russell vought for omb. there you see the senate minority leader. karoline leavitt the white house press secretary issuing this clarification today. this is not a rescission of the federal funding freeze. it is simply a rescission of the omb memo why to end any confusion by the court's injunction. the president's eo executive order on federal funding remain in full force and effect. and will be vigorously implemented. with that, let's bring in fox news chief political analyst brit hume. you know, you need a whiteboard at time here, bret, at the beginning as you followed this. basically to sum it up this freeze was designed to scrub any funding going out the door for dei or things that they specifically with executive orders targeted. it was not a blanket freeze, even though that's how many people took it and there was a lot of chaos at the beginning and for all of the politics, whenever they say republicans pounce, this was demo

for their part, the white house says this only applies to that omb memo. trump's executive orders on federal funding, quote, remain in full force and effect. they say they will try again. but now we know that this administration can be resisted. dana nessel is the attorney general for michigan. she's among a coalition of attorneys general challenging the trump directive in court. she joins me now. attorney general nessel, good to see you. thank you for being with us. this is there's a lot of trump policy that we knew about from from project 2025, things that they were going to do. but this one just sort of came out in a in what seemed to be a confused manner, and no one seemed to know what to do about it. but that's real for people like you, for governors, for people who live in states who don't actually know what was supposed to happen. this threw the country into confusion for about 24 hours. >> yeah, it sure did. and all we can do is, is look at this and see it as nothing more really than, you know, cruelty masquerading as fiscal responsibility or gover

omb, we try to get the resources all of the president's initiatives. but in terms of, it wasn't our brainchild at omb. >> host: talking with russell vought for about five more minutes. taking your phone calls online for usual, democrats, republicans independents. patty, , juneau florida republin good morning. >> caller: good morning. i have a question, what if all the congresspeople spent more other salaries than the earned? what would happen? i believe they would have to file for bankruptcy. my question is, is why then would our congress do that to the american people? why are they going to let, why don't they make rules or you know spend the money amount depend on how much money is coming in? >> guest: no one is arguing that we not pay our bills. the issue is, is timely payment of our bills. if you're going to allow a child that gets a credit card for the first time and creates an enormous number of charges on that credit card, are you ever going to get a conversation when you take the credit card away or put rules in place to make sure that if you'r

as omb has made clear. and i just want to but i want to really drill down on this, jake, because it's so important. there's 2 million employees in the federal government, overwhelmingly the career federal service in this country is far left. left wing. the american people. >> i don't know that to be a fact. >> well, i'll give you a great example. we looked at usaid as an example. that's 98%, 98% of the workforce either donated to kamala harris or another left wing candidate, just as an example. >> okay. >> but let me just. >> let me just an entire workforce is having a. >> wait, wait. >> whoa whoa whoa. did you just say that? saying someone voted for kamala harris is demonizing them? no. >> so you're you're suggesting is that there's a bias? no. you're suggesting. >> you use the word demonizing. you just said that i'm demonizing somebody by saying they voted for kamala harris. >> let's get back on track. >> i just i am on track. okay. let me stay on track. what i'm saying to you is this there are 2 million

supplemental memo from omb went out to clear up confusion. omb has worked with agencies and already approved many programs to continue even before the pause has gone into the effect. >> we are examining everything, taking a look at where money is going, how it is being spent so we can be responsible with taxpayer money. something the last administration frankly didn't care about. >> meantime, the administration is offering buyouts to federal workers who don't want to return to work in person. they have got until february 6th, just over a week to take that offer or leave it. it allows deferred resignation so you get to keep your pay and benefits and continue to work from home until september 30th, the white house expects between 5% and 10% of federal employees will quit. which would potentially save $100 billion in taxpayer funds annually. bret? >> bret: jacqui, in a week we have seen a flurry of executive orders. getting yet another executive order tonight from president trump regarding transgender surgeries for children. what does that say?

-- shots at omb. i sat down a few days ago with mr. vought in my office because he's seeking a nomination. he told me plain as day -- plain as day, if confirmed these are the kinds of things he wants to do at omb. the senate must not confirm mr. vought to lead omb. his views are way too fringe for the majority of this country and i'm sure if you asked in a secret ballot, from a majority of the republican senators who sit across the aisle from us. but tomorrow the senate budget committee is scheduled to hold a markup of mr. vought's nomination. i join ranking member merkley in calling on the chair to delay this markup by at least two weeks. why? first, because of the devastation that these executive orders will do and that the funding freeze was prepared to do. but, second, because it's clear that mr. vought was not honest during his hearings, and we need more answers from him. when something this conventional is launched by an administration, the person behind it all deserves -- or america deserves to

. >> the omb guidance memo. if you read, it is as clear as day. >> but it wasn't, which even some republicans were saying. and then today, we learned in a new memo that the original memo that was allegedly clear as day had now been rescinded. here is that new two sentence memo in its entirety. omb memorandum m25 13 is rescinded. if you have questions about implementing the president's executive orders, please contact your agency general counsel. okay, so that seems pretty clear. the original omb memo is rescinded. that's what the memo says. omb memorandum m25 13 is rescinded. but shortly after that memo was released came this tweet from the white house press secretary, quote, this is not a rescission of the federal funding freeze. it is simply a rescission of the omb memo. why? to end any confusion created by the court's injunction, the president's eo executive orders on federal funding remain in full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented. so the memo is rescinded, but not the executive orders on

doge and omb also found there was about to be $50 million to

i've been asked and answered about this omb i-memo. there's many other topics of the day.erlapping speakers] >> trickling down. direct assistance that is in the hands of the american people will not be impacted. as i said to peter, we will continue to provide the list as it comes to fruition. omb right now is focused on analyzing the federal government's spreading which is exactly what the american people elected president from to do. >> one question on immigration. the 3500 west ice has made so far, can you just tell us the numbers. how many have a criminal record versus though you are just in the country illegally? >> secretary leavitt: all of them, because they illegally broke our nation's laws. as far as this administration goes. and of the last administration did not see it that way. it is a big culture shift to you someone who breaks out immigration laws as a criminal. that is exactly what they are. >> welcome to the briefing room. >> secretary leavitt: yes, they are criminal. >> thank you. on stripping security details for figures like john bolton, pompeo, ron haddo

they issued this memo to omb. it seemed flatly illegal. to lose in court. they then rescinded it after political blowback. but the press secretary said, no, we're actually still freezing all this funding. and i have to say, it's just not clear what the status is. and as a us senator, i know i've talked to politicians and representatives who are getting calls and talking to people. is it clear to you what the status is, which is to say, is money flowing in the needed way it has to, or is it still stalled? >> it's clear what donald trump is up to because we've seen this movie before. it is the omb memo that. >> was rescinded. >> the executive order was not rescinded. let's be clear. donald trump is going to try this again. he's going to come after all of these programs, i think, in part because they they are looking to pull as much money as they can away from working class americans so that they can pass this huge tax cut. for the wealthiest of americans. they're trying to reshape government, according to the vision of project 2025, which he

without an omb director, he hasn't been convicted. he hasn't been confirmed yet. >> david drucker, explain this to me, donald trump. this was the plan, right? they have had this planned out for months and months. so why is it playing out like this in this barrage of chaos? >> well, i don't really know that. it's a barrage of chaos. the president issued issued an executive order and he gave his he gave his. >> white house. >> a directive and. >> they followed it. >> i think the question is, will congress do anything about it? and the answer is probably no, because over the last 10 to 20, i should say ten to 20 to 30 years, our congress has functioned more like a parliament than an actual separate branch of government. and so whoever the president is, the people in congress that support that president are happy to give away the power of congress and let the president run roughshod over them. they only argue with the president's constitutional overreach when it's the president of the other party. and this doesn't work unless congress is

before we talk about the omb nominee, what is your understanding of this freeze?e read the memo, it is very unclear, for instance, whether medicaid is also involved is also exempted as medicare and social security are. and what's in what's out because people all over the country are confused. >> well, andrea, so. >> much is in anything that goes. >> is a grant. >> anything that goes is a. >> loan disbursement. >> and anything that goes through a third party like. >> title one funds. >> go to a school. they don't go directly to. >> children in. >> in underfunded schools. it goes through the school first. and so it's. vast and. >> it actually is just a huge attack. >> on the constitution. we have adjudicated. >> this again and again. >> the power of the. >> purse, clearly stated. >> in the constitution is with congress. this is the president saying, you know what? i want to look at. >> everything that's been approved, and i'm only going to pass money on to the. >> things i like. this battle was fought. >> when. >> nixon tried to. >> do impoundments. >> congress pass

and the omb for people who've been in government and for political junkies, omb is an incredibly importantion because line by line, budget, item by budget item, things are going to get funded or defunded. and that's where we have to focus a lot of our attention. >> but the american people are going to see all of those things, right? like, let's just say donald trump gets all of these people through, many of which might not be qualified for the jobs, then they're going to have to do these enormous jobs with their unqualified ability that they're not qualified for. and beneath them are government employees who have been in these roles for decades and decades and decades. and it will be abundantly clear of all of these administration officials can do their jobs. >> well, frankly, i think this is what you know, vivek and elon want to clear out. i think trump wants to clear out those decades long employees who might thwart pete hegseth from doing whatever the heck he wants to do, or pam bondi from doing whatever the heck she wants to do, that she's really not qualified. >> easier said than done

my question for you, sir, is if you are confirmed as a whim be director at again, do you commit -- omb director again, do you commit -- >> thanks for the question. i will commit to upholding the law. i disagree with the characterization of the general a coming office. my time, we followed the law consistently. we will continue to do so. >> do you think that is within the law? >> we did not. we were engaged in a policy process with regard to how funding would flow to ukraine. >> do you believe the impoundment control act of 1974 is the law of the land that you must follow? >> it is the law of the land. the president has run on that issue. he believes it is unconstitutional. for 200 years, presidents have had the ability to spend less for an appropriation if they had the ability to do it for less. as it pertains to the parameters of how we would use that, that is something that his team will have to consider when they are confirmed in these roles. host: bobby kogan, what do you make of that? guest: thank you for letting me respond to that. i was watching it live and talking to my tv. rus

about ukraine and bad things that they were doing. >> in communication with the white house with the omb to get more clarity, do you anticipate some kind of communication -- >> we are going to communicate with everyone under the sun and most importantly with our constituents and tell them, let your republican senators know, let your republican congressman know that you hate this, they'll feel the heat. thank you, everybody.

has pulled back that memo itself, because that barred communication between omb and agency heads and was impacted. that's the latest. >> break neck speed and keeping up and distilling it is very important. jacqui, thank you very much live from the white house. appreciate it. >> john: it's like drinking from a fire hose only bigger. fox news getting exclusive look at the latest deportation flight from texas to ecuador. we're on the ground with a live report from el paso coming up. my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis held me back. but now with skyrizi, i'm all in. thanks to skyrizi, i saw dramatically clearer skin. and many even achieved 100% clear skin. don't use if allergic. serious allergic reactions, increased infections, or lowered ability to fight them may occur. before treatment, get checked for infections and tb. tell your doctor about any flu-like symptoms, or vaccines. with skyrizi, nothing on my skin means everything. ♪nothing is everything♪ ask your dermatologist about skyrizi today. you go to sandals to connect on a deeper level. i've been waiting for this... [wind blow

then he followed it up with this omb memo to.ing his oath to uphold the law. so that's where we. >> stand right now. >> the other reality. >> though. >> and this is. >> the good news part. >> is that the courts are holding the courts blocked the order on birthright citizenship. a federal judge just. >> a few. >> minutes ago blocked, at least for. >> the time. >> being, this order. >> and. >> you know, this is not to say that the courts are the ultimate. >> solution, but it is important to. recognize that. >> as spineless as the republicans are, as little resistance as they will put. >> up in congress, the federal. >> judiciary so far is two for two. >> let me read what you write today on the retribution campaign that trump is waging, quote, across the country, across age career officials will be asked to engage in the harassment of donald trump's political opponents. it may take the form of denials of government contracts, delayed government services, irs audits and, in the most sinister circumstances, criminal investigations and

the omb rescinded their memo. their memo was what caused confusion. and i understand that.'s freeze is something he stands by that he is why we have entities like doge. that's why we are canceling entities like dei and stopping all of the contractor and green new deal and last administration left us with. to stop that we have to pause. the pause as we said 100 times over is not gs going to effect americans that deserve this assistance, medicare, medicaid, social security. but this is the left wing's narrative, laura, we are used to it and none other than chuck schumer himself to pick. they could have picked a new person but you, you know, their old games, old tricks, same old people. and we heard from them and that's what they are trying to do, fear-mongering as usual. the freeze is in place. what we are doing is examining how would he be spending taxpayer money and doing what the responsible thing to do is instead of frivolously throwing money around as if it's not our own. >> laura: i worked in the white house eons ago. i know how these memos can get written and rewritten

just a little over an hour ago omb rescinded this memo. but then the white house press secretary has tweeted that the freeze is still in effect. this illustrates the uncertainty and the lack of calculation that went into this process. now, as my colleague, senator murray, the ranking member on the appropriations committee, has noted, the list of programs being put under the microscope was dramatic. grants for law enforcement, veterans care, disaster relief and mitigation, funding for the 988 suicide prevention lifeline, homelessness and housing funding, child care, public schools including idea funding, community health centers, food access programs, including meals on wheels and school lunch programs; funding for preventing violence against women, and much more. and all these programs affect families throughout my state of rhode island. working families, in particular. because in many respects, we all depend upon some support at some time. the trump administration a little over a week on the job decided to violate the law to withhold that

guest: omb does a review.f the legitimate reasons they could have done is they are trying to find ways to be more efficient. that's one of the three acceptable reasons to pause. i don't like this policy is not one of them. i would say while we are at it, we are talking about omb, what was the farias last time, it's and impoundment control act violation to not spend money. it's an anti-deficiency act to spend money you don't have. that one carries criminal jail time. what omb has done to insert itself in the process is they mess with the apportionment. that's where it is this technical step where congress will authorize and appropriately money and omb will formally release the money. and then the agencies will go about obligating and spending it. omb inserts itself by saying here's the money. that part of it has to happen for nonpolicy reasons. it's about making sure the money goes out so you don't spend it all too partly or too slowly. what omb has done and what i think they will do again this year is they cam

about ukraine and bad things that they were doing. >> in communication with the white house with the omb to get more clarity, do you anticipate some kind of communication -- >> we are going to communicate with everyone under the sun and most importantly with our constituents and tell them, let your republican senators know, let your republican congressman know that you hate this, they'll feel the heat. thank you, everybody. [inaudible] >> c-span's washington journal, our live forum involving you to discuss the latest issues in government, politics and public policy, from washington and across the country, coming up wednesday morning, alliance president and ceo reverend paul talks about the role of faith leaders and opposing aspects of president trump's agenda, then article 3 project founder and president mike davis on how the justice department is poised to change under president trump and ap white house correspondent vik miller discusses white house news of the day. c-span's washington journal, live wednesday morning, c-span now, or on lane -- online or at c-span.org. >> live on c-span,