WASHINGTON — Russell Vought was invited by President-elect Donald Trump on Friday to continue leading the White House budget office, but it was unclear how the position would fit in with the government manpower and spending reductions that Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk had in mind.
Trump stated in his announcement, "Russ will assist us in restoring Self Governance to the People, and he is fully capable of destroying the Deep State and ending Weaponized Government." "We will bring our country's finances back into balance and enable the American people to achieve unprecedented levels of prosperity and ingenuity."
Vought is one of the authors of Project 2025, a comprehensive conservative policy blueprint. Even while Vought and other first-administration veterans worked on the memo, Trump attempted to disassociate himself from it throughout the presidential campaign.
The president's yearly budget request and any emergency expenditure plans will be prepared by Vought, who served as the director of the Office of Management and Budget during Trump's first term.
OMB is responsible for managing the executive branch and assisting the president in carrying out policy.
When it comes to the yearly budget and appropriations process, the director is usually the president's chief negotiator on Capitol Hill, and the agency has influence over almost every aspect of policy.
Even during unified rule of Washington, lawmakers are free to diverge from the president's budget request, which is traditionally submitted to Congress in February.
Since Congress possesses the power of the purse under the Constitution, the White House's ability to spend federal taxpayer dollars is restricted.
During his first administration, Trump attempted to circumvent Congress' spending power, but his efforts were mainly unsuccessful due to legal challenges.
For example, withholding $250 million in aid to Ukraine led to Trump’s first impeachment and an opinion from the Government Accountability Office that the decision was a violation of federal law.
“Faithful execution of the law does not permit the President to substitute his own policy priorities for those that Congress has enacted into law,” GAO wrote. For a policy purpose, OMB withheld payments, which is prohibited by the Impoundment Control Act (ICA). There was no systematic delay in the withholding. Thus, we draw the conclusion that OMB broke the ICA.
Separation of powers questions
Trump's statement that Musk and Ramaswamy would spearhead an attempt to reduce government expenditure and federal employees sparked debate and raised some worries regarding the separation of powers.
Although Congress hasn't created the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as a government department or given it any cash, Trump claimed he was placing the two in charge of it.
Although Trump intends to circumvent such regulations during his second term, a number of statutes, such as the Antideficiency Act and the Impoundment Control Act, basically remind the president that they must abide by the spending laws that Congress passes.
The next Trump administration will gain a great deal of knowledge about the various constitutional powers that the legislative and executive branches possess thanks to Vought's tenure at OMB.
During the first Trump administration, he served as deputy director before rising to acting director and then OMB director.
In order to revive "a consensus of America as a nation under God with unique interests worthy of defending that flow from its people, institutions, and history, where individuals' enjoyment of freedom is predicated on just laws and healthy communities," Vought went on to found the Center for Renewing America.
