Reactions Tepid to OMB Director’s Support for Political Deputies

February 17, 2025 TruthUSA

Federal employee unions are taking a cautious approach to a recent initiative by the Trump administration aimed at ensuring that career officials adhere to spending protocols.

WASHINGTON—Responses were notably sparse following The Epoch Times’ exclusive report on Feb. 14, revealing that Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell T. Vought is conferring authority to allocate federal funds appropriated by Congress onto his leading political appointees.

A senior administration official, who wished to remain anonymous, indicated that a mere four sentences in a Feb. 11 memorandum from Vought would be sufficient to restore “accountability to OMB to make sure that [President Donald Trump’s] agenda is met and that more money doesn’t slip away unnoticed.”

Vought’s decision is crucial as OMB acts as the president’s main instrument for overseeing how all federal departments and agencies execute White House policy directives. Established in 1970 by President Richard Nixon, OMB’s program associate directors (PADs) have historically been career professional employees.

Now, under Vought, these PADs are political appointees who possess the authority to oversee federal funding decisions independently of the career executives who previously held that responsibility.

Given OMB’s comprehensive governmental influence, the expanded power granted to Vought’s political deputies could also play a vital role in upholding and fortifying Trump’s numerous interrelated federal workforce reforms—this includes the termination of thousands of probationary employees and subsequent management actions spurred by billions in wasteful and possibly fraudulent spending, as revealed by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

This isn’t the first instance where Vought has chosen to empower his political deputies. During his brief eight-month term leading OMB at the conclusion of Trump’s first term, he enacted similar measures, which drew significant criticism from congressional Democrats.

John Yarmuth (D-Ky.), then-chairman of the House Budget Committee, condemned Vought’s actions in a Sept. 3, 2020 statement, labeling them “a deliberate and alarming maneuver by the Trump Administration to centralize power among political allies, diminish the role of Congress, and mute any dissenters.”

However, a review of Legistorm’s archive for congressional statements made on or after Valentine’s Day 2025 revealed no comments regarding the budget allocation authority of political appointees within OMB.

This does not imply that Vought’s initiative is without opposition.

Faith Williams, director of the Effective and Accountable Government Program at the Project on Government Oversight (POGO), informed The Epoch Times that “while this is not a novel concept from Russell Vought, the shift of apportionment authority to political appointees may foster the politicization of OMB.”

Williams also mentioned that Vought has consistently opposed the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, which severely restricts a chief executive’s capacity to refrain from spending funds as Congress has appropriated.

In a similar vein, Daniel Schuman, executive director of the American Governance Institute, conveyed to The Epoch Times that there is a more significant issue beyond political appointees possessing authority over spending allocations.

“The essential concern is not about who at OMB holds allocation authority, but whether they exercise it lawfully. OMB Director Vought has made it clear that he does not plan to abide by the law and intends to infringe on Congress’s financial authority against the statute,” Schuman stated.

Representatives for the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest union for federal workers, and the National Treasury Employees Union did not provide responses to inquiries for comments.

These unions have been outspoken in their opposition to Trump’s commitment to shrink the size and expenses associated with the federal workforce, which currently stands at around 2.3 million employees.

Similarly, spokespeople for two prominent federal employee associations—the Senior Executives Association and the Federal Managers Association—also did not reply to requests for commentary on Vought’s recent actions.

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