Kateryna Chornovol02:58, 16.01.25

Vought said he “doesn’t intend to get ahead of the president on foreign policy.”

Donald Trump’s nominee for the post of head of the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought, did not commit to allocating the remainder of the already approved funding for aid to Ukraine, which the current administration is not able to use.

CNN reports this, citing his statement during a hearing in the US Senate. Vought, who held an influential position in Trump’s administration during his previous term, said that he “does not intend to get ahead of the president on foreign policy issues.”

The current administration is leaving more than $3 billion in previously approved funding for Ukraine unused, which Trump will have to spend when he takes office. But Vought’s response could signal that the new administration will embrace a practice known as “holdouts,” the authors point out. It allows the American president to refuse to spend money that has already been appropriated by Congress.

Congress has passed laws in the past that limit the practice of impoundment, including the Impoundment Control Act of 1974. But Vought suggested during the hearing that the law was unconstitutional.

“The president raised the issue of delays and that for 200 years presidents have used that authority. We will develop an approach to that and a strategy for that when the administration is in office,” he said.

The responses have drawn outrage from Democrats, including Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.

“I am surprised and outraged that someone in such a responsible position can, in essence, say that ‘the president is above the law,'” the senator said.

It should be noted that the US Office of Management and Budget, which Vought may head, is responsible for preparing and implementing the federal budget.

(C)UNIAN 2025