Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Russ Vought delivered a blistering critique of the Government Accountability Office (GAO), arguing it should not exist.
Journalist Ben Jacobs in a post on X wrote that "Russ Vought also says that the GAO shouldn't exist while speaking at @NatConTalk."
The National Conservatism Conference's NatConTalk is a prominent forum within the broader NatCon movement, designed to showcase speeches and panels from conservative thinkers, politicians, and policy strategists.
Republicans, including figures from the Trump administration, have long accused the GAO of partisan bias, particularly when its rulings clashed with White House policy. In 2020, the GAO claimed President Donald Trump's freezing of congressionally approved military aid to Ukraine violated federal law, a finding Republicans dismissed as political theater amid the first impeachment battle.
More recently, Trump allies such as Vought argue the GAO routinely oversteps its authority by second-guessing executive spending decisions, framing the watchdog as an arm of Democrat oversight rather than a neutral arbiter. This skepticism has fueled GOP calls to slash the agency's budget and curb its investigative reach.
Organized by the Edmund Burke Foundation, NatConTalk serves as a platform for advancing nationalist and populist ideas on culture, economics, and governance, often challenging establishment conservatism while highlighting themes such as national sovereignty, traditional values, and skepticism of global institutions.
Vought labeled the GAO as playing "a partisan role in the first‑term impeachment hoax" and dismissed its findings as "non‑events with no consequence … rearview mirror stuff."
At NatConTalk, the broader context of Vought's latest comments likely stemmed from frustration with what he perceives as GAO overreach — especially its insistence that executive agencies must follow protocols like the Impoundment Control Act when pausing or changing congressionally approved spending.
Vought currently serves as the OMB director under Trump, having been confirmed by the Senate in February. In addition to his primary role overseeing federal budgeting and policy initiatives, he has also taken on significant concurrent responsibilities as acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and — just last week — as acting administrator overseeing the closeout of USAID (the U.S. Agency for International Development) following its merger into the State Department.
In essence, Vought now leads the OMB while simultaneously managing key transition functions within two major federal bodies, highlighting his expanded portfolio and central influence in executing the administration's agenda.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.