See below for video and highlights, courtesy of Sen. Tim Kaine’s office, of “today’s exchange between [Kaine], a member of the Senate Budget Committee, and President Trump’s nominee for Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Russell Vought during Vought’s nomination hearing before the committee.” This guy is as extreme as – or worse than – many other Trump nominees, and for a very important/powerful job, OMB Director. In a sane world, Vought would get ZERO votes for confirmation, but unfortunately, we don’t live in a sane world at this point… 🙁
During the hearing, Kaine pressed Vought about disturbing comments he made about the federal workforce. “…You gave a speech that got a lot of attention when you said: ‘we want bureaucrats to be traumatically affected. 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’… I’ll go to a New Testament Luke 6:45: ‘from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.’ ‘We want people to be traumatized. We want people to be traumatized.’ I’ve heard a million people in this room give speeches about ‘we want to cut the budget, we want to reduce federal spending, we want to deal with the deficit.’ But I haven’t heard anybody give a gleeful speech about traumatizing the federal workforce,” Kaine said.
Kaine then asked Vought if he was a fan of President Abraham Lincoln. “Lincoln spoke to a nation at war, and he said, ‘with malice towards none and charity towards all.’ And he was saying that to the North and the South. He didn’t say, ‘We want you to be traumatized.’ He was a bridge builder and a unifier, and that’s what public servants should be. They shouldn’t gleefully be wishing trauma on people who are trying to serve their fellow man,” Kaine continued.
Kaine also asked Vought to explain why he supports cuts to Pell Grants, food stamps, Medicaid, Tenant-Based Rental Assistance, and the Low Income Housing Energy Assistance Program. “You were the president of the Center for Renewing America, and the think tank produced a 2023 budget proposal calling ‘A Commitment to End Woke and Weaponized Government’… it’s 104 pages of details to end woke and weaponized government, and it proposes deep cuts to the SNAP program. Is providing nutrition assistance to low-income kids woke and weaponized?” Kaine asked. Vought refused to explain.
“You can say it’s not woke and weaponized, or you can tell me why it’s woke and weaponized. I don’t think SNAP programs or benefits for kids are woke and weaponized. You agree with me?” Kaine continued. Vought refused to answer the yes or no question.
“…You proposed deep cuts to Pell Grants. Is helping kids pay for college and helping their families that woke and weaponized?” Kaine continued.
Vought again refused to answer the question, saying: “Again, I’m not here to defend the Center for Renewing America’s budget.”
“I get it that you’re not here to defend that work product, and I can understand why. You propose deep cuts to Medicaid for millions of low income families. Why is that woke and weaponized? You propose undermining health insurance. Why is that woke and weaponized? Eliminating tenant based rental assistance, why is that woke and weaponized? Eliminating the Low Income Housing Energy Assistance Program. This was all in your document about ending woke and weaponized government. Okay, let’s see. We want to traumatize federal employees, and then we want to take all these programs that help everyday people who are struggling and cut them because they’re ‘woke and weaponized.’ Those are your words, not mine. ‘From the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks,’” Kaine concluded.
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