Russell VIUD, Director of Management and Budget, talks with journalists outside the western wing of the White House on July 17.
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President Trump said on Thursday that he would meet his budget director, dawn about which “democratic agencies” are reduced when the federal government has passed to closing.
The daily operations of the federal government are carried out by non -partisan workers with some federal agencies led by political appointments. But the Trump administration uses a stop to aim at the Democratic Party.
“I cannot believe that radical left -wing democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity.” Trump wrote about the truth of socialHe called on the Republicans to use a stop to “clean the dead wood” and said that billions of dollars could be saved “by eliminating waste and fraud”, although he did not give any examples.
While some call the threats of the Trump administration by a political “bluff” in order to force the Democrats to return to the negotiation table, Vought, the Director of Management and the Budget seems to be beneficial in this promise.
On Wednesday, he announced the abolition of energy projects in the amount of $ 8 billion. He also promised to cancel the financing of infrastructure for $ 18 billion in New York, aiming at the leader of the minority in the state of Senate Chaka Shumer and the leader of the Democratic Party Hakim Jeffris.
Vouught also warned that the dismissal of federal workers will begin within a few days, at least any power reduction should be obtained from the agencies themselves and follow certain procedures.
The speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson, R-la., Thursday told reporters that Vought had no other choice. He accused the Senate Democrats of forcing the administration’s hand and said that Vought should be the directive from the president.
“The Russ should sit down and decide, because he is responsible for this office, which are politicians, staff and which programs are important and which are not a very interesting task. And he does not use this responsibility, ”Johnson said. “This can end today if the Senate democrats come in their feelings … If they do not … it will become more and more painful.”
Executive power in closing
According to Bridget Duling, a professor of law university, who worked at the OMB for more than ten years, does not give Voght or the White House.
She claims that this is a clear misunderstanding of the differences between temporary lost in allocations, which is a disconnection, and does not forever dismiss employees.
“This is a bluff,” she said. “And this is the administration trying to use some levers in order to mainly force the Democrats to return to the table in order to agree in order to return the government to open.”
The White House says that the Democrats left them no other choice, except to look for savings in the federal government. But they did not explain why constant dismissal would be necessary, and not just temporary snacks.
And the past statements and essays of Vought indicate that it is less focused on working with the democrats and is more focused on making changes for which he has long performed.
Vouught has long been for strict abbreviations
Vouught was a key architect of the disputed project of 2025, a conservative play released in 2023, to guide the potential future republican administration. Vouught argued in it that the White House was supposed to accept a more activist approach to reducing expenses and revising the federal labor force.
Now it is part of the administration and is working to fulfill these goals.
He said that the federal government is completely controlled with the Republicans, the time has come to restrain expenses, regardless of whether they received the support of the Democrats.
“The process of allocations should be less than two -party,” Vouught told reporters at breakfast organized this summer Christian Science Monitor.
On Tuesday, Vought told Fox Business that he saw the closure as an opportunity to fulfill the wider targets of the administration in order to revise federal labor.
“Let it be said that there are all the manners of the authorities in order to be able to maintain the agenda of the policy of this administration ahead, and this includes a decrease in the size and scale of the federal government, and we will look for opportunities for this,” Viud said.
Last week he sent Note to federal agencies Tell them to prepare for large -scale dismissals of federal workers, if the government is disconnected.
This step is outraged by leading democrats.
Jeffris said that the threat would not bend the democrats in support of the plans of the Republicans, who, according to them, are damaged by public health.
“Listen, Russ, you are an evil political hack”, Jeffris Published on XThe field “We will not be intimidated by your threat to participation in mass layouts.”
Republican leaders in the Congress claim that the Democrats tied their hands and, in fact, transferred the power of the wallet of the executive branch.
The government usually decides which employees are “important” against “insignificant” for temporary disconnection. But in this case, the White House can use this concept for constant abbreviations.
Hill Democrats say that Vought does the same as before closing
Most of the Democrats on the Capitol Hill say that the actions of the Vought are no different from what he did since the beginning of the administration, and this is the key reason why they are determined to push away.
“These are more and more signs of our democracy, evaporating before our eyes,” said NPR. He said that the wind project was canceled in his native state, and a legal battle is held for him.
Multiple democrats say that Vouught and the president were determined to use the shutdown as pretense for causing further pain to political opponents.
“I think everyone should worry,” said Senator Tim Kane, d-va. About the news that Vouught is aimed at the blue states with a reduction a few hours after the start of the disconnection. He said that any transaction aimed at opening the government will have to come with the forced provisions that ensure the distribution of money as indicated in the legislation.
“For me, the most important thing in these budget negotiations is to force the president to agree that the transaction is a transaction, because he simply acts as the king unilaterally – go for enemies, follow the cities that I do not like,” Kane said.
Kane noted that even before the closure, the Trump administration abolished $ 40 million to an economic project in Norfolka, Virginia, and abandoned $ 400 million in the form of money in the field of public health, during gross growth in measures.
The leader of the majority in the Senate John Tong, RS.D., emphasized that in order to open the government, he needs five more democrats to vote with the Republican Party under the stop. Three senators – Senator -Democrats Catherine Cortes Masto from Nevada and Senator John Fetterman from Pennsylvania, as well as the independent king of Angus from the state of Meng, supported the bill of the Republican Party this week.
After Cortes Masto broke with her colleagues -Democrats, she explained in her statement that she was concerned about her native state and economic influence on the tourism industry, military installations and much more.
“That's why I can’t support the expensive closure, which will damage Nevada’s families and presented even greater power to this reckless administration,” she said.
When vouught Published on social networks The list of energy projects in the blue states that he canceled, Nevada – a house for two Democrats – was not on the list. It is unclear whether the Voice of the Cortez Masto influenced the bill of the Republican Party for this omission.
Susan Collins, R-Maine, Chairman of the Assiguing Committee in the Senate, made it clear that she opposed the unilateral abbreviations of Vought. Collins emphasized that she is focused on the development of bipartisan agreements on individual expenses.
Another Republican Party Acceptor, Senator Mike Rands, RS.D., said that VOUGHT would not make these reductions or declare federal dismissals if there was no interval in federal financing. Referring to OMB, Rounds said: “When you close the government, you give them a great opportunity to have grounds for reducing expenses on an ongoing basis, and the executive branch is fully consistent with their authority, especially when you have a government off.”
He said that if the Democrats want to make it difficult to make the action of Vouuth, they need to vote for the short -term financing bill.
But Democrat of Murphy says that the more Vought advances the legitimate membrane, the more democrats should be repulsed.
“We would be suckers to sign a budget in which none of the financing is never spent in democratic states, and all financing is spent in republican states. Since they act more lawlessly, our spine must tense, ”Murphy said.
Trade unions resist
Federal workers say that the Trump administration has already exceeded their powers. On Tuesday, just a few hours before stopping, unions representing more than 800,000 federal employees sued Vogught, along with the director of the personnel management (OPM) Scott Merchant, for calling illegal threats to dismantle the main federal services and functions provided by federal personnel.
“This is illegal abuse of power, intended to punish patriotic civil servants and put pressure on Congress.” EnBelieves Kelly, president of the American Federation of civil servants (AFGE), said In an interview with NPR on Wednesday morningField
AFGE, along with the American state, district and municipal employees, claims that the OMB memorandum occupies a “legally unbearable position”, that the missing in allocations eliminates the venal requirements of federal institutions to fulfill the programs that the congress previously financed.
In their complaint, trade unions argue that the memorandum of the budget office illegally forces agencies to ignore their own authorized laws.
Trade unions asked the court to say that both OMB and OPM surpassed their authorized powers and acted as an arbitrary and capricious way, as well as cancel any actions that may proceed from the published notes and instructions.
NPR policy reporter Stephen Fowler contributed to this report.