House Dem Gets In Heated Battle With Trump Official Over Following the Law: ‘The Answer to that is No’

Screenshot via C-SPAN

Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro had terse words for White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought on Tuesday as the pair sparred over the Trump administration’s cuts to grant approvals and foreign aid. DeLauro also accused Vought and OMB of ignoring constitutional powers held by Congress.

Vought was brought before Congress to discuss Trump’s proposed budget for the 2027 fiscal year, which includes a 40% increase in defense funding—and a 10% cut in non-defense spending.

The proposed budget will also “subject virtually all federal funding to the whims of the President’s policy priorities,” DeLauro told Vought before she requested a 45-day extension of the comment period, the time in which the public and/or interested and impacted organizations can review the lengthy document.

“No, but I will say this,” Vought answered. “The number of comments that is that are coming in that we have to respond to is going to take us some time. The answer is no.”

DeLauro moved on. “I think one of the striking aspects of the proposal is attempts to put the OMB director at the center of all decision-making here,” she continued. “And why are you a better judge of an NIH clinical trial than a panel of medical doctors and researchers? How will you ensure the grants will be based on merit and individuals and communities served by the federal grants will receive the highest level of service possible?”

“Is there a listing … you could get to us? The agency’s priorities, the president’s priorities, what is the set of criteria you are using to judge these grants?” she continued. “What precludes you from changing the criteria in the middle of a grant period? Because I, as I understand it, not only can political appointees take control of grant awards, active grants can be terminated at any time for any reason. And I went through some of these efforts, but you can cancel it at any moment. Is there a set of criteria that we could have that demonstrates us why these these grants are being canceled?”

Vought insisted DeLauro was “misconstruing the proposal to seem to make it seem as if it is OMB-centric,” and added, “OMB will not be making these determinations.” He described the people who will make grant approval or denial decisions as “policy officials at the agency.”

DeLauro refused to back down. “But the fact of the matter is, as we understand, this is the probably the most consequential change in the real senior political appointees,” she said. “Rather than career scientists and program officers would now be required to conduct a quote ‘pre-issuance review’ of every discretionary grant before it is awarded. These appointees are explicitly forbidden from deferring to peer reviewers or routinely ratifying their recommendations.”

After drilling Vought on how much funding is currently available and how much is not, DeLauro added, “Will you commit to us here today that you will carry out our spending laws as Congress intended through appropriations and reconciliations as they were enacted or not?”

“Obviously, we will take and make sure that we’re spending money where you intend us to spend money,” Vought answered before DeLauro interjected.

“No, the answer to that then is no,” DeLauro fired back.

Watch the clip above via C-SPAN.

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