Video: Sen. Tim Kaine Tells Trump’s Nominee for Deputy OMB Director He’s Either a “conspiracy theorist” or “afraid of making an insecure president mad by acknowledging that [Biden won the 2024 election]”

Excellent job by Sen. Tim Kaine questioning this Trump nominee (Hal Duncan to serve as Deputy OMB Director). Note that this nominee has a “comparatively thin resume that includes less than two years as Associate Director of OMB’s Office of Legislative Affairs, just two years as Legislative Director for a member of the House, and, prior to working on the Hill, less than two years at the Republican Senate Campaign Committee.” Also note that, in Duncan’s “current role as Associate Director of OMB’s Office of Legislative Affairs, OMB has stonewalled Congress and this Committee by not responding to a single letter [Senate Budget Committee Ranking member Jeff Merkley has] sent.” In sum, this guy’s “chief qualification seems to be loyalty to President Trump and OMB Director Russ Vought.” With that, here’s Sen. Kaine:

• Question by Sen. Tim Kaine: “Was the 2024 presidential election rigged?”
• Response from Hal Duncan: “Senator, President Trump won the 2024 presidential election.”
• Sen. Tim Kaine: “Yeah, folks, how about that? So, he was asked twice, was the 2020 presidential election rigged? And he said, President Biden was certified to be the winner. He wouldn’t answer the question. Saying President Biden was certified as the winner of that election is like saying today is Tuesday, June 16. I mean, it’s obviously it’s a fact, but he wouldn’t acknowledge that President Biden won that race. Now, there’s only one of two reasons, Mr. Duncan. you you have either fallen victim to the conspiracy mindset that says that that election was rigged and if you’re a conspiracy theorist, you shouldn’t be let anywhere near the position you’ve been nominated for, or you know, President Biden won the election, but you’re afraid of making an insecure president mad by acknowledging that fact. You answered so easily when I asked you the question about 2024. You didn’t fight, you didn’t evade, you didn’t obscure, you didn’t try to end run. You said President Trump won the election, which he did. He won the popular vote. He won the electoral college. The answer was just as simple about 2020. The fact that you were unable to give this simple answer about 2020 raises real serious questions.”
• Sen. Tim Kaine: “But let me ask you this. In your current position, I believe you’re a legislative affairs director for USAID, which its programs to the extent they’re being delivered at all are sort of being delivered through state and others, but OM is sort of managing the windown of the operation. We are currently in the midst of a severe global health crisis. We’ve got an Ebola outbreak in Africa that’s accelerating rapidly and that some experts have warned could be extremely dangerous. We’re seeing screwworm return to the United States after decades of work to eradicate it. We’ve got measles outbreaks in communities that haven’t had major measles issues since the vaccine became available. We’ve had 111 cases in Virginia so far this year and we only had 25 last year. Meanwhile, what’s the administration been doing to prepare for these types of global health issues? We withdrew from the World Health Organization, undermining our ability to coordinate with other nation on responses. After withdrawing, it was interesting. Secretary Rubio said who didn’t do a good job of picking up Ebola. Thanks, Sherlock. The US backs out of the WHO. We quit funding it. We quit participating. The organization isn’t as effective in picking up a disease that could harm Americans. We’ve canceled hundreds of millions in HHS
  mRNA vaccine funding. And we’re trying to cancel billions more in CDC grants related to pandemic. We’ve illegally shuttered USAD, one of the agencies that’s responsible for the progress we had made in combating screwworm, not to mention one of the agencies key to addressing Ebola outbreaks. The Trump administration has pushed out experts across the government, not just at USAID, employees at the Department of Agricultures Animal and Plant Health Inspections…”

• Sen. Tim Kaine: “…is down a quarter. Many specific offices at HHS have lost tons of employees. They haven’t told us how many yet. And today, today, the OMB is still withholding $2 billion in congressionally passed global health funding from last year, FY25. The administration only started to release some of these monies way late after the Ebola outbreak got bad. Now, to my colleagues, last week in an appropriations hearing, Secretary Rubio testified that he’s ready to utilize this $2 billion from FY25 to deal with global health issues, but he’s waiting for the OMB to release the money, release the money from FY25 when we’re dealing with Ebola,  screworm, measles, hantavirus. Is the OMB going to release this money or are you going to wait for more health crises to emerge?”
• Hal Duncan: “Well, Senator, I certainly appreciate the question. I believe you referenced to this, but we have already notified via state who is managing these programs and who is requesting funds off of the congressional notification that you’re referring to. We’ve already notified up to Congress that $100 million of the global health security funding involved in that CN is going to combat Ebola. Um, we have also apportioned an additional $500 million on top of that from that CN to go towards Ebola as well.”
• Sen. Tim Kaine: “Apportioned, is that the same as released or is that internally, we think we might one day make these monies available?”
• Hal Duncan: “So in from the OM perspective that would be releasing.”
• Sen. Tim Kaine: “And when will that money be released?”
• Hal Duncan: “I’d have to defer to the State Department. They would submit a congressional notification on these funds.”
• Sen. Tim Kaine: “OK. But I just again to remind my colleagues, Secretary Rubio said he wants to use this $2 billion from FY25 to combat these global crises and he’s waiting on OMB to release it. So my time is up, but I’m just going to say should you be confirmed, but even before there’s any vote on confirmation in the midst of these crises, OMB should release the money that Congress allocated over a  year ago to deal with precisely these kinds of health emergencies.”