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‘Irrelevant’: Senators push back against Vought’s call for more partisan spending process
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Senators are not thrilled with a top White House official’s comments that the government funding process should become more partisan, and fear that doing so could erode Congress’ power of the purse.
Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought told reporters during a Christian Science Monitor Breakfast Thursday morning that he believed «the appropriations process has to be less bipartisan.»
His sentiment came on the heels of Senate Republicans advancing President Donald Trump’s $9 billion clawback package, which would cancel congressionally approved funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting, just a few hours before.
THESE ARE THE REPUBLICANS WHO VOTED AGAINST TRUMP’S $9 BILLION CLAWBACK OF FOREIGN AID, NPR FUNDING
Director of the US Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Russell Vought speaks to reporters outside the West Wing of the White House on July 17, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS)
Unlike the hyper-partisan bills that have dominated the Senate’s recent agenda, including the rescissions package and the president’s «big, beautiful bill,» the appropriations process is typically a bipartisan affair in the upper chamber.
That is because, normally, most bills brought to the floor have to pass the Senate’s 60-vote threshold, and with the GOP’s narrow majority, Senate Democrats will need to pass any spending bills or government funding extensions to ward off a partial government shutdown.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who alluded to issues down the line with the appropriations process if Republicans advanced Trump’s resicssions package, took a harsh stance against Vought.
«Donald Trump should fire Russell Vought immediately, before he destroys our democracy and runs the country into the ground,» Schumer said.
Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee also did not take kindly to Vought’s comments.
‘LONG OVERDUE’: SENATE REPUBLICANS RAM THROUGH TRUMP’S CLAWBACK PACKAGE WITH CUTS TO FOREIGN AID, NPR
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, speaks during a news conference about high gas prices at the U.S. Capitol on May 18, 2022, in Washington, D.C. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
«I think he disrespects it,» Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said. «I think he thinks that we are irrelevant, and I wish I had actually heard the speech, because, you know, again, everything in context.»
«But you have to admit that when you look at the quotes that are highlighted in the story this morning, it is pretty dismissive of the appropriations process, pretty dismissive,» she continued.
Vought has no intention of slowing the rescissions train coming from the White House, and said that there would be more rescissions packages on the way.
He noted another would «come soon,» as lawmakers in the House close in on a vote to send the first clawback package to the president’s desk.
«There is no voter in the country that went to the polls and said, ‘I’m voting for a bipartisan appropriations process,’» Vought said. «That may be the view of something that appropriators want to maintain.»
Both Murkowski and Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, voted against the rescissions package, and warned of the cuts to public broadcasting, lack of transparency from the OMB and the possible effect it could have on legislating in the upper chamber.
«I disagree with both those statements,» Collins said of Vought’s push for a more partisan appropriations process. «Just as with the budget that the President submitted, we had to repeatedly ask him and the agencies to provide us with the detailed account information, which amounts to 1000s of pages that our appropriators and their staff meticulously review.»
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, addresses the press at Washington Crossing Inn on Nov. 6, 2022, in Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania. (Mark Makela/Getty Images)
Fox News Digital reached out to the OMB for comment.
Vought’s comments came at roughly the same time as appropriators were holding a mark-up hearing of the military construction and veterans’ affairs and Commerce, Justice and Science spending bills.
Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said during the hearing that Senate Republicans coalescing behind the rescissions package would only make hammering out spending bills more difficult, and argued that «trust» was at the core of the process.
«That’s part of why bipartisan bills are so important,» she said. «But everyone has to understand getting to the finish line always depends on our ability to work together in a bipartisan way, and it also depends on trust.»
Other Republicans on the panel emphasized a similar point, that, without some kind of cooperation, advancing spending bills would become even more challenging.
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Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said that finding «critical mass» to move spending bills was important, and warned that people have to «quit saying it’s gotta just be my way or the highway,» following threats Schumer’s threats last week that the appropriations process could suffer should the rescissions package pass.
«People better start recognizing that we’re all gonna have to work together and hopefully get these [appropriations] bills to the floor and see what we can move,» he said. «But if somebody just sits up and says, ‘Oh, because there’s a rescission bill, then I’m not going to work on Appropriations,’ you can always find an excuse not to do something. Let’s figure out how we can work forward.»
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Rubio slams UNRWA as a ‘subsidiary of Hamas,’ vows it will not ‘play any role’ in delivering aid to Gaza
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who arrived in Israel shortly after Vice President JD Vance left for Washington, railed against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) amid the U.S.-brokered ceasefire.
«UNRWA’s not going to play any role in it,» Rubio said when asked about whether the controversial agency would assist in delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza. «The United Nations is here. They’re on the ground. We’re willing to work with them if they can make it work, but not UNRWA. UNRWA became a subsidiary of Hamas.»
UNRWA demanded in a post on X that it be allowed to do work in Gaza.
«As the largest U.N. agency operating in the Gaza Strip, by far, UNRWA has an unparalleled logistical network, longstanding trust from the community, managing the distribution of supplies based on vulnerability and clear criteria. Our teams are ready, inside and outside Gaza. Let us work,» the agency wrote.
EXPERTS URGE TRUMP TO BAN TERROR-LINKED UN AGENCY FROM HIS GAZA PEACE PLAN
Secretary of State Marco Rubio listens to a question as he speaks to the media after visiting the Civil-Military Coordination Center in southern Israel on Oct. 24, 2025. (Fadel Senna/Pool via Reuters)
On Oct. 17, days after world leaders backed a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) opened a Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC), which is where Rubio spoke on Friday.
The CMCC is located in southern Israel and will serve as the main hub for Gaza stabilization efforts. It will also oversee implementation of the ceasefire agreement and has an operations floor designed to track real-time developments in Gaza.
During the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) last month, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres spoke at a meeting in support of UNRWA, saying that the agency has «made invaluable contributions to development, human rights, humanitarian action, and peace and security, including for Israel.»
«UNRWA is vital to any prospects for peace and stability in the region,» Guterres added.
UNRWA’s headquarters in Gaza City, Gaza, on Feb. 21, 2024. (Dawoud Abo Alkas/Anadolu via Getty Images)
US MILITARY TO OVERSEE NEXT PHASE OF PEACE DEAL FROM COORDINATION BASE IN ISRAEL
However, the U.S. and Israel have taken hard stances against the agency, particularly in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.
President Donald Trump in February reaffirmed the U.S.’s commitment to not fund UNRWA.
In the executive order, Trump said that «UNRWA has reportedly been infiltrated by members of groups long designated by the Secretary of State as foreign terrorist organizations, and UNRWA employees were involved in the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.»
A Palestinian boy walks near an UNRWA school sheltering displaced people that was hit in an overnight Israeli strike in Gaza City on July 5, 2025. (Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters)
UNRWA SCHOOLS ‘HIJACKED BY HAMAS,’ WATCHDOG REPORT WARNS
In April 2025, when the International Court of Justice (ICJ) demanded Israel work with UNRWA, Washington backed Jerusalem, saying it was under no obligation to work with the agency and had «ample grounds to question UNRWA’s impartiality.»
UNRWA announced in August 2024 the end of an investigation by the Office of Internal Oversight Services into whether its staff participated in the attacks, as Israel claimed. Following the probe, which looked into 19 UNRWA staff members, nine staff members were fired over evidence that «could indicate» they were involved in the attacks.
The investigation found one case in which there was no evidence to confirm the staffer’s involvement and nine other cases in which «the evidence obtained by OIOS was insufficient» to prove their participation, according to UNRWA.
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Fox News Digital reached out to UNRWA and Israel’s mission to the U.N. for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.
israel,secretary of state,marco rubio,united nations
INTERNACIONAL
En una importante muestra de apoyo, Carlos III recibe a Zelenski con honores de Estado en Windsor
Honores militares
El Mayor Ben Tracey, capitán de la Guardia de Honor, junto al rey y el presidente ucraniano. Foto: Reuters
El Rey apoya abiertamente a Ucrania frente a la invasión rusa. Foto: APUn defensor de Ucrania
Después de la humillación de Trump
Toda la familia real involucrada
La Cumbre de Buena Voluntad
Starmer recibe a Zelenski en Londres. Foto: AP
Sen. Lankford proposes bill to avoid government shutdowns
Fox News senior congressional correspondent Chad Pergram and Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., join ‘The Faulkner Focus’ to discuss the failed vote to pay federal workers amid the government shutdown as they enter their first week without pay.
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Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has canceled votes in the House of Representatives for a fourth straight week as the government shutdown shows no signs of ending.
Johnson’s move is a part of his continued pressure strategy on Senate Democrats and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who have sunk the GOP’s federal funding plan 12 times since Sept. 19, when the House passed the measure.
Sept. 19 was also the last day the House was in session, meaning lawmakers have been largely in their home districts for over a month.
Republicans are pushing a short-term extension of fiscal year (FY) 2025 spending levels through Nov. 21 — called a continuing resolution (CR) — aimed at giving congressional negotiators time to strike a longer-term deal for FY2026.
SCREAMING MATCH ERUPTS BETWEEN HAKEEM JEFFRIES, MIKE LAWLER AS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN CHAOS CONTINUES
House Speaker Mike Johnson, right, is canceling House votes to pressure Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, left, for refusing to agree to a GOP-led plan to avert a government shutdown. (Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Democrats, furious at being sidelined in federal funding discussions, have been withholding their support for any spending bill that does not also extend COVID-19 pandemic-era enhanced Obamacare subsidies that are due to expire at the end of this year.
Johnson’s decision was made public on Friday afternoon during a brief pro forma session in the House. Under rules dictated by the Constitution, the chamber must meet for brief periods every few days called «pro forma» sessions to ensure continuity, even if there are no formal legislative matters at hand.
Pro forma sessions can also be opportunities for lawmakers to give brief speeches or introduce legislation that they otherwise would not have.
Democrats have criticized Johnson’s decision, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., telling reporters that House Republicans have been «on vacation for the last four weeks.»
The government is in a shutdown after Congress failed to reach an agreement on federal funding. (Getty Images)
Republicans, however, have largely stayed united behind Johnson as the shutdown continues.
«I mean, if all of a sudden the Senate wants to pass a clean CR, I would imagine there are some options on the table that we can pursue to get things back on track,» said Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., who presided over the House chamber on Friday.
«I would defer, ultimately, to [leadership’s] decisions for the schedule. But right now, I don’t see any sign that we need to change what has been on the counter.»
But there have been several notable defections. Both Reps. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., have made their criticism of Johnson’s strategy known publicly for weeks.
«I believe very strongly that it’s the wrong decision,» Kiley told MSNBC earlier this week, adding House lawmakers were not «doing all the things we’re supposed to be doing» aside from figuring out how to end the shutdown.
BATTLEGROUND REPUBLICANS HOLD THE LINE AS JOHNSON PRESSURES DEMS ON SHUTDOWN
Rep. Kevin Kiley, seen in August 2023, has been critical of Johnson’s shutdown strategy. (Scott Strazzante-Pool/Getty Images)
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Multiple House lawmakers have also raised concerns about being out of session on private weekly calls that Johnson holds with members of the GOP conference.
Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, was the most recent House Republican to suggest the GOP could be in a stronger position if they were back in Washington, Fox News Digital was told.
«I think the longer that we are out, the messaging is starting to get old,» Van Duyne told fellow House Republicans on their Tuesday call.
house of representatives politics,mike johnson,politics,chuck schumer
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