- United States
- Ohio
- Letter
Reject Vought's nomination - threat to nonpartisan civil service
To: Sen. Husted, Sen. Moreno
From: A verified voter in Rocky River, OH
February 5
Russell Vought's nomination to be director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) should be opposed due to his deeply concerning record and undemocratic policy agenda. As OMB acting director and director under the previous administration, Vought was the key architect behind the unconstitutional "Schedule F" plan which aimed to systematically undermine the nonpartisan federal civil service. This policy would have allowed the involuntary transfer of career federal employees into at-will positions without due process protections, enabling the purge of those deemed insufficiently loyal to the president's political ideology. Vought's professed belief that "we are living in a post-Constitutional time" reveals his authoritarian impulses and disregard for the rule of law. Under his leadership, OMB illegally withheld military aid to Ukraine, leading to the president's impeachment, and he continues to voice opposition to Congressional oversight of the executive branch's power of the purse. Alarmingly, Vought has advocated using the Insurrection Act to suppress civil protests and target immigrants at the border. Beyond these anti-democratic actions, Vought has displayed outright hostility toward career civil servants, stating his desire to put bureaucrats "in trauma" and make them "not want to go to work" due to being "viewed as the villains." With a deeply partisan agenda to consolidate executive power and undermine accountable governance, Vought lacks the impartiality and commitment to constitutional principles required to lead OMB. His nomination represents a threat to our democratic institutions and should be rejected.