Russell Vought, President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget, promised to help American taxpayers while undergoing a contentious confirmation hearing on Wednesday.

Vought was OMB director during Trump’s first term. He already had a hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Director of the Office of Management and Budget nominee Russell Vought came under fire during his nominee hearing today in the U.S. Senate.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) grilled Russell Vought, President Trump’s nominee to lead the White House Office of Management and Budget, over a budget proposal created at the think tank where he worked,

Russell Vought, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be director of the Office of Management and Budget, testifies during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

The Senate’s confirmation hearing of Russell Vought, one of Washington’s staunchest advocates for cutting spending, offered a preview Wednesday of the bruising spending wars likely to consume

Trump's pick to lead the Office of Management and Budget refused to answer questions about his chilling vision for an even more powerful White House.

Russell Vought, President Donald Trump’s nominee for director of the Office of Management and Budget, will testify before Congress for the second time. Since the first, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) met with Vought and released a statement disagreeing with the nomination.

Speaker Mike Johnson said he doesn't "question" Trump's decision to pardon more than thousand people convicted in connection to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, including some violent offenders. "The president's made his decision, I don't second guess those," Johnson said at a news conference alongside House Republican leadership.

Office of Management and Budget Acting Director Russell Vought arrives to testify during a hearing of the House Budget Committee about President Trump's budget for Fiscal Year 2021, on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

This is the practice of presidents refusing to spend funds that Congress has appropriated, shifting power to the White House. To take a current example, Mr Trump has issued an executive order putting an “immediate pause” on billions of dollars appropriated under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2021 and a climate law from 2022.