Democrats spar with Vought over USAID cuts, federal grants in tense hearing

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White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought clashed with House Democrats on Tuesday over the administration’s spending cuts to foreign aid and grant approvals.

The heated exchanges occurred during Vought’s testimony before a House Appropriations subcommittee on federal spending, as lawmakers on Capitol Hill brace for another potential government shutdown this fall.

The Trump administration unveiled its proposed budget for fiscal 2027 earlier this year, which includes a 40 percent increase to the $1 trillion defense budget approved by Congress last year, and a 10 percent cut to nondefense spending.

Democrats pressed Vought on the administration’s decision to shutter the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which a report from House Oversight Democrats found had likely contributed to 600,000 “entirely preventable” deaths worldwide.

“Isn’t it wrong to facilitate the death of children?” Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) asked Vought at the hearing, nodding to the studies estimating the deaths resulted from cuts to programs previously funded through USAID.

The Wisconsin Democrat referenced Vought’s past writings on Christian nationalism while questioning whether the administration’s actions aligned with his professed religious beliefs.

“Isaiah 58:7 commands, quote, ‘Share your food with the hungry and provide the poor wanderer with shelter.’ Are you saying God was misquoted or wrong?” Pocan asked, referring to a Bible verse.

Vought rejected the premise that the administration’s funding cuts directly or indirectly resulted in the deaths of children, and accused the lawmaker of slander.

“This administration is not doing that,” the budget chief said.

The exchange grew increasingly tense as Pocan asked whether it is “morally, ethically, or biblically wrong to facilitate the death of children.”

Vought declined to answer the question directly, instead maintaining that the administration was not responsible for any such deaths.

At one point, Rep. Dave Joyce (R-Ohio), the chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, stepped in to mediate the exchange.

“I believe he answered the question. You just don’t like the answer,” Joyce said.

Pocan pushed back, responding, “Mr. Chairman, you can answer your own questions and get your own answers.”

USAID informed Congress that it still has $19 billion left in funds to cover costs associated with closing out its remaining programs that were terminated last year, though the agency said actual costs were expected to be far less than that amount.

Democrats and advocates have urged the administration to distribute the leftover funds for humanitarian aid.

Other Republicans later came to Vought’s defense.

“I take it somewhat personal and offensive that you were treated so disrespectfully,” said Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.), who sits on the committee that oversees USAID’s budget. “I think that we all can agree that every loss of an innocent life is a tragedy.”

Edwards, who serves as vice chair of the panel on National Security, Department of State and Related Programs, said he knew firsthand how hard the committee members worked to “ensure the efficient spending of our taxpayer dollars.”

The North Carolina Republican added that it was “misleading” to judge the effects of policy changes based on “isolated claims” while overlooking the lives already saved through decades of U.S. humanitarian aid.

Edwards offered Vought the opportunity to respond to the previous exchange with Pocan, where he said the budget chief was “rudely cut off.”

Vought agreed with Edwards.

“The President cares greatly about continuing to fund areas where we can be effective and to make sure it’s done on an efficient basis and to actually make sure we get to real care for real individuals,” the OMB director said.

Vought also came under fire over the Trump administration’s overhaul of the federal grant approval process. The director assured lawmakers congressional earmarks will be protected under the new rules, meaning it won’t stop lawmakers from directing cash to specific projects in their home states.

“Sometimes you have an earmark to a specific person or a specific organization, and that would probably be at the top of the list that needs to be funded,” he said.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, closed the hearing by accusing the OMB director of politicizing grants and disregarding Congress’s constitutional powers by refusing to administer certain grants.

“The Constitution says that the appropriations process is the power of the purse. You are ignoring that,” she said. “No president has the right to just violate the United States Constitution, and no member of this committee does that. But the administration is doing it regularly.”

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Dave Joyce

David Joyce

Mark Pocan

Rosa DeLauro

Russell Vought

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