WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 Senate Budget Committee Ranking Member Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chair Patty Murray (D-WA), and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Ranking Member Gary Peters (D-MI) continued their Congressional oversight responsibilities of the Trump Administration\u2019s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) by seeking clarity on the scope and reach of the January 27th memo directing federal agencies to \u201ctemporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all federal financial assistance.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cTens of billions of dollars in life-saving aid, counterterrorism programs, funding to give the United States an edge over our competitors in foreign markets, and humanitarian aid has been frozen,\u201d<\/strong> the Ranking Members write. \u201cThe scope of funding blocked for any initiative this administration deems to be covered by the Executive Orders remains extremely unclear. Finally, we are hearing communities are still struggling to access funds that were cut off under the now-rescinded funding freeze M-25-13 Memorandum, including Head Start recipients and Community Health Centers.\u201d<\/strong> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
In the course of their oversight, the Democratic leaders also pressed OMB Director Russell Vought to provide clarity on who authored the disastrous memo that has caused fear, uncertainty, and confusion in communities across the country. Although the memo was later rescinded and blocked by federal district courts, the directives from the memo triggered confusion and chaos across the country that continues to persist. Before being confirmed Director of OMB, Russell Vought reportedly called a meeting with OMB staff to discuss the memo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cThe memo bears similarities to a publication of Project 2025\u2014a coalition of conservative groups organized by The Heritage Foundation that authored a playbook to \u2018pave the way for an effective conservative administration.’ <\/strong>\u2014 which [Vought] co-authored,\u201d <\/strong>the Democratic leaders write. \u201cThough neither the Trump Administration nor OMB has officially confirmed [Vought\u2019s] involvement in the memo, its text and the harm it has caused and continues to cause are from [Vought\u2019s] personal playbook.\u201d<\/strong> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
The Democratic leaders highlighted Vought\u2019s history of disregarding federal law, particularly the Impoundment Control Act<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cOnce a bill appropriating funding is enacted into law, the President\u2019s duty is to ‘take care that the laws be faithfully executed,\u2019 as there is no constitutional mechanism for the President to unilaterally invalidate a law. In simpler terms, appropriations bills are not suggestions\u2014they are laws that the President must follow,\u201d<\/strong> the Senators remind Vought. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
The Democratic leaders of Committees overseeing and enforcing spending, revenue, the federal budget, and governmental operations asked Vought and OMB to answer a series of questions related to the generation, issuance, and rescission of the January 27th memo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Merkley was strongly opposed to the nomination of Russell Vought to be OMB Director, including leading Budget Committee Democrats in boycotting the committee meeting to advance his nomination and leading Senate Democrats in holding the Senate Floor for over 24 hours of debate in opposition to Vought\u2019s nomination. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Merkley, Murray, and Peters sent two letters to OMB Director Vought. Their letter inquiring on the scope of halted funding is available by clicking here<\/a>, and their letter on the generation of the January 27th memo is available by clicking here<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
### <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 Senate Budget Committee Ranking Member Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chair Patty Murray (D-WA), and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Ranking Member Gary Peters (D-MI) continued their Congressional oversight responsibilities of the Trump Administration\u2019s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) by seeking clarity on the scope and reach […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":18846,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[105,139,108],"class_list":["post-21465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases","tag-appropriations","tag-budget","tag-democracy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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