President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security and Office of Management and Budget nominees will now go to a full Senate confirmation vote.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted on Jan. 20 to advance two of President Donald Trump’s cabinet-level nominees, Kristi Noem for Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary and Russ Vought for Office of Management and Budget (OMB) director.
The committee advanced Noem’s nomination on a 13-2 vote.
Vought’s nomination advanced through the committee by an 8-7 vote.
Noem and Vought both sat for questioning before the Republican-led Senate committee last week.
The favorable votes by the committee now send Noem and Vought’s nominations to the Senate floor for a full vote.
Noem Integral to Trump’s Border Agenda
Noem’s speedy confirmation to the DHS role could prove instrumental in advancing Trump’s border security agenda, which was a key priority of his first administration and is a focus as he returns to the White House.
At her confirmation hearing on Jan. 17, Noem said an early focus will be on processing the final removal from the United States of illegal immigrants with criminal convictions. She said there are about 425,000 illegal immigrants that should be deported immediately.
Noem said she and Trump have also discussed reinstating the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) of Trump’s first administration. The MPP, often referred to as the “Remain in Mexico” policy, required migrants seeking to assert an asylum claim to wait in Mexico or another third-party country while their asylum application was adjudicated.
In its first public statement since Trump’s return, the White House released a list of administration priorities that include new border security measures. The White House noted plans to call up U.S. troops to assist in these border security efforts.
Other plans would see the administration designate transnational cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, and use the Alien Enemies Act to begin removing cartel members from the United States.
Trump has designated Benjamine Huffman as acting DHS secretary as Noem’s nomination awaits the full senate vote.
Vought Advances on Narrow Vote
If the Senate confirms his nomination, Vought would reprise a role he played during the first Trump administration.
In practice, the role of OMB director has been critical in coordinating the executive branch agencies to align their actions with the president’s economic and political goals. Vought filled that role in the final two years of Trump’s first term.
During his confirmation hearing last week, Senate Democrats asked if Vought would withhold funding that Congress has appropriated for certain programs.
Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), the ranking member on the committee, noted a 2020 report by the Government Accountability Office that concluded Vought violated the 1974 Impoundment Control Act to pause foreign assistance for Ukraine in 2019. This pause in Ukraine-related aid formed part of the premise for Trump’s first impeachment case.
Vought defended OMB’s actions during this 2019 holdup in Ukraine-related assistance.
“We were engaged in a policy process with regard to how funding would flow to Ukraine,” Vought said. “We released the funding by the end of the fiscal year.”
Trump has named Matthew Vaeth to serve as the acting OMB director, pending Vought’s Senate confirmation.