President Donald Trump's pick to lead the White House's Office of Management and Budget reportedly said the results of the 2020 presidential election were rigged.
Russell Vought, whose nomination will be voted on by the Senate Budget Committee on Thursday, answered a set of written questions for the record, including one from Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., one of which asked whether Joe Biden won the 2020 election, The Hill reported Tuesday. Vought responded, "I believe that the 2020 election was rigged."
Vought's opinion, shared by Trump and many of the president's voting base, that Biden's victory was fraudulent could put more pressure on the GOP-led Budget Committee to postpone the vote, according to The Hill, which reported it obtained a copy of Vought's answers.
Senate Democrats have demanded the vote on Vought be postponed after OMB issued a memo Monday night freezing federal funding that might be affected by Trump's executive orders, including foreign aid, assistance to nongovernmental organizations, "woke gender ideology, and the Green New Deal. But the Budget Committee reportedly is moving ahead with the vote.
Whitehouse in his questions for the record asked Vought, whose confirmation hearing was Jan. 22, about his leadership of the Center for Renewing America, a 501(c)3 nonprofit that paid him $540,000 in compensation last year, The Hill reported. Whitehouse pressed Vought on the group's donors, asking him how OMB's recusal and conflict-of-interest policies could be effective if he doesn't disclose that information.
Vought responded that the organization is not obligated to share its donors and said he has fully complied with the Office of Government Ethics and OMB's ethics attorneys, according to The Hill. Vought also did not disclose whether he discussed any of the executive orders issued by Trump in the past week with Trump or members of his team.
Vought said Trump decided the policies in his executive orders and vowed to "faithfully implement the president's policies."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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