WATCH: Trump nominee Vought confronted by past statements calling for end of government departments

Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., confronted Russell Vought, nominee for director of the Office of Management and Budget, with past statements where Vought called for the shuttering of some government departments during his Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday.

Vought argued they were not relevant as he only planned on implementing policies set out by President-elect Donald Trump.

“I said ‘there needs to be,’" Vought said of his past comments about department closures. "I didn't make an announcement on behalf of the incoming administration that there would be.”
Vought added that he believes some government bureaucracies have been “weaponized" against the American people.

Vought, a Project 2025 co-author, briefly led OMB at the end of Trump’s first term. The agency may play a larger role in Trump’s second term as the incoming president has promised to dramatically cut the federal workforce

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