House Republicans Endorsed Giving Trump Political Appointees Unilateral Veto Over All Grant Spending

DeLauro: “I gave my Republican colleagues the opportunity to block this scheme. They declined—twice.”

WASHINGTON – This week, House Republicans on the Appropriations Committee were given two opportunities to denounce Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought’s shameful attempt to codify his power grab and normalize the White House’s illegal withholding of life-saving federal aid based on whether or not the recipient state voted for President Trump. 

They were given the chance during the Labor-HHS-Education full committee markup and again in the Homeland Security full committee markup.

Ranking Member DeLauro issued the following statement on Vought’s attempt to normalize his wrongdoing and House Republicans’ refusal to do anything about it: 

“Since taking office, President Trump and OMB Director Russ Vought have sought to take total control of government funding. This power belongs to Congress. Our Constitution is clear. Yet, Russ Vought continues to attempt to steal from communities across the country. Now, he is trying to set a new political test on grants for a wide swath of the federal government.

“The test will be a simple one: are you sufficiently loyal to the President? If the answer is no, it will result in the denial of lifesaving disaster relief, funding for research into cures, the closure of Head Start offices, and more. If you are not loyal enough, if you speak out against this administration, the president and his cronies will take away resources Congress provided.

“We have already seen what this looks like in practice. By March of this year, President Trump had approved just 23 percent of disaster relief funding for states with Democratic leadership, while Republican led states enjoyed an approval rate of 89 percent. This scheme is an attempt to hurt American communities and add more bureaucratic red tape, slowing the delivery of funding Americans are owed. 

“Members of Congress were lambasted by their constituents at the disruption, unpredictability, and chaos that Elon Musk, an unelected billionaire, and Russ Vought unleashed on the country with the DOGE chainsaw and Project 2025. Many of my Republican colleagues chose to cancel town halls and meetings with constituents, so they did not have to face public accountability. I gave my Republican colleagues the opportunity to block this scheme. They declined—twice. Clearly, the lesson they took away from last year is to stand aside and let Russ Vought codify disruption, unpredictability, and chaos through this rule.”

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