The U.S. Senate stayed in session all night as Democrats delayed a vote on confirming Russell Vought to serve as Office of Management and Budget Director, a position he previously held during part of President Donald Trump’s first term in office.
In a 53-47 party-line vote on Wednesday, all 53 Republicans invoked cloture on the nomination, while all 45 Democrats, and the two independent senators who caucus with the Democrats, voted against the move.
While Democrats cannot stop the vote from eventually taking place, they are using all of the 30 hours available before the inevitable vote on Trump’s nominee.
‘I just came off the floor after speaking for an hour,’ Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., noted in a tweet on Wednesday. ‘I refuse to let Republicans confirm Russ Vought the easy way, so we’re holding the floor through the night for 30 straight hours. Vought has shown he’ll ignore the law & constitution. I’ll be voting NO tomorrow.’
GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma has been pointing out that Senate Republicans will vote to confirm Vought on Thursday evening.
‘Once again, OMB nominee Russell Vought will be confirmed at 7pm ET tomorrow. @SenateGOP has the votes. Enjoy your speeches,’ he tweeted on Wednesday in response to a post in which Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., spoke about the Democrats’ plan.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called Vought a ‘horrible, dangerous man,’ during remarks at a rally on Tuesday.
Trump announced Vought as his pick for OMB last year.
‘He did an excellent job serving in this role in my First Term – We cut four Regulations for every new Regulation, and it was a Great Success!’ he noted in a post on Truth social at the time.
‘Russ has spent many years working in Public Policy in Washington, D.C., and is an aggressive cost cutter and deregulator who will help us implement our America First Agenda across all Agencies. Russ knows exactly how to dismantle the Deep State and end Weaponized Government, and he will help us return Self Governance to the People,’ Trump declared.