John,

Last week, the new administration moved to freeze millions of dollars to local communities―prompting a huge public outcry, lawsuits, and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) rescinding their late night memo. This proposed freeze is eerily similar to OMB Director Russell Vought’s 2019 violation of the Impoundment Control Act―legislation that says the president cannot block congressionally approved funds to programs and agencies without the permission of Congress.¹

From 2019 to now, one thing is clear and consistent: Russell Vought wants to seize power for the Trump administration to freeze and impound at will funds approved by Congress.

During his confirmation hearings to once again lead the OMB, Russell Vought explicitly said that he believes the Impoundment Control Act is unconstitutional.² As one of the architects of Project 2025 Vought wrote that every federal agency should go to OMB for allotment of congressionally appropriated funding and―acting on behalf of the President―OMB will decide the amount, duration, and purpose of the funds.³

This is illegal, but it is exactly how Russell Vought plans to run the Office of Management and Budget if confirmed as its next director.

Send a direct message to your senators and tell them to reject the nomination of Russell Vought to lead the Office of Management and Budget.

Since Trump’s inauguration just two weeks ago, we’ve seen unprecedented moves by the administration to seize federal funds. Almost immediately, the administration shut down funding portals along with outlining a trillion dollar funding freeze that affected critical programs like Medicaid.⁴

In a move that could give the Trump administration unprecedented power to control how government funds are spent, Elon Musk (who is not an elected official) and his Department of Government Efficiency were given access to the federal payment system in the Treasury Department by making some people working with Musk Treasury employees and giving them security clearances. This system pays out $5 trillion owed by the federal government, including Social Security checks, tax refunds, payments to contractors, and more; now Elon Musk and his acolytes have access to the personal information of millions of people (there are 67 million Social Security beneficiaries alone).⁵

As the Director of the OMB during Trump’s first term, Vought helped craft a FY2020 budget that included $1.5 trillion in cuts to Medicaid, $845 billion in cuts to Medicare, and $25 billion in cuts to Social Security.⁶

Giving Elon Musk access to the federal payment system is another alarming sign of the administration’s determination to speed up Vought’s plans to cut.  

We cannot allow funding for human needs programs to be held hostage by a group of unelected sycophants. Send a direct message to your senators today telling them to reject the nomination of Russell Vought as director of OMB.

Thank you for all you do,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, CHN Action

¹ Trump administration violated the law by withholding Ukraine aid, Government Accountability Office says
² Russell Vought Poised to Expand Power of White House Budget Office
³ Executive Office of the President of the United States
⁴ White House eyes fight to expand Trump’s power to control spending
⁵ Elon Musk’s Team Now Has Access to Treasury’s Payments System
⁶Trump said he wouldn’t cut Medicaid, Social Security, and Medicare. His 2020 budget cuts all 3