WATCH: In Senate Floor Speech, Kelly Zeroes in on OMB Nominee’s Track Record of Breaking the Law to Favor Rich People Over Hard-Working Americans

“Nothing disqualifies someone faster in my mind than when they say ahead of time that they plan to break the law”

Tonight, ahead of the confirmation vote for Office of Management and Budget (OMB) nominee Russell Vought, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly took to the Senate floor to make clear how Vought’s track record in this very role is the best indicator of the danger of confirming him again. Kelly described the several instances where the former OMB director broke the law by blocking funds appropriated by Congress to support Ukraine in 2019 and to help Puerto Rico after hurricanes Irma and Maria ravaged the island. 

“This is what an unelected, unaccountable bureaucrat looks like,” Kelly said on the floor. “Agree with these programs or disagree with them: Congress—Republicans and Democrats—voted for them.”  

In his speech, Kelly noted that Vought has described the law he broke as unconstitutional. Therefore, if confirmed, he doesn’t think he has to follow it. That means Arizonans would be severely impacted by cuts on programs him and Trump disagree with. 

“He wants to cut housing support by 43%, including completely eliminating the largest source of housing assistance for Arizonans. That’s going to put working families on the streets,” Kelly pointed out. “He wants to end the expansion of Medicaid that has extended coverage to 600,000 Arizonans through a program called AHCCCS. That means more Arizonans without health insurance, unable to get the care they need.” 

He warned that his nomination is not about efficiency or looking out for everyday Americans. Rather, “this is about billionaires paving the way to get another tax cut for themselves and for their corporations. And to do so on the backs of you: hard working Americans.” 

Kelly concluded, “We’re supposed to be here to make government work for the American people. I’ll sit down with anyone to make that happen. But the plan seems to be to break the federal government in order to help rich people. I can’t get on board with that.”  

Click here to view and download Sen. Kelly’s remarks.