{"id":2399474,"date":"2025-02-05T20:11:01","date_gmt":"2025-02-06T01:11:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senate-democrats-launch-talkathon-to-protest-vought-amid-musk-takeover-of-agencies-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2025-02-05T20:13:14","modified_gmt":"2025-02-06T01:13:14","slug":"senate-democrats-launch-talkathon-to-protest-vought-amid-musk-takeover-of-agencies-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senate-democrats-launch-talkathon-to-protest-vought-amid-musk-takeover-of-agencies-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate Democrats launch talkathon to protest Vought amid Musk takeover of agencies &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsenate-democrats-launch-talkathon-to-protest-vought-amid-musk-takeover-of-agencies-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2399474&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Senate democrats are conducting an all-night series of speeches\u2062 to protest Russell Vought\u2019s \u2062nomination as the head of the \u200bOffice\u2062 of management and Budget\u2062 (OMB). they argue that his confirmation would bolster Elon Musk\u2019s influence in reshaping federal agencies,\u2063 possibly threatening essential funding for vulnerable populations. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer expressed\u200b concerns about the implications of Vought and Musk collaborating on budgetary decisions.<\/p>\n<p>With a Republican majority in the Senate, Democrats\u200b lack the power to block Vought\u2019s confirmation \u200dbut aim \u200bto delay \u2064the process as a \u200cform of protest.Their efforts are framed as a response to \u2063a recent OMB memo that suggested halting federal\u200c grants to evaluate alignment \u200dwith President Trump\u2019s agenda,\u2062 a move that Democrats assert could <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/supreme-court-to-consider-another-major-test-of-federal-regulatory-power-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Supreme Court to consider another major test of federal regulatory ... - Washington Examiner\">disrupt critical services<\/a> such as Medicaid and educational programs.<\/p>\n<p>Vought has\u2063 ties\u2062 to Musk and Project 2025,\u2064 raising alarms among Democrats, particularly after \u200cthe funding freeze incident. Prominent figures like Senator Elizabeth \u2063Warren\u200d criticized the administrationS \u200dmanagement, warning of risks that \u200bcould\u2062 arise from \u2063Musk&#8217;s \u200bgrowing authority. Despite these objections, Vought\u2019s confirmation appears \u2063likely to proceed, highlighting a divide in perspectives on the management\u200b of \u200cfederal\u2063 funding and the role of private interests in government operations.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Senate Democrats launch talkathon to protest Vought amid Musk takeover of agencies<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1979240\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>In an all-night marathon of speeches on the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/senate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\" Senate\"> Senate<\/a> floor, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/democrats\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Democrats\">Democrats<\/a> are protesting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/russell-vought\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Russell Vought\">Russell Vought<\/a>&rsquo;s nomination to lead the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/omb\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Office of Management and Budget (OMB)\">Office of Management and Budget<\/a>, warning his confirmation will supercharge <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/elon-musk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Democrats\">Elon Musk<\/a>&rsquo;s efforts to upend federal government agencies.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>&ldquo;Imagine a world where Russell Vought and the DOGE team team up, and it&rsquo;s a team that can do such harm and pain for America,&rdquo; said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), speaking on the Senate floor on Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;They team up to eradicate the funding they allege is wasteful &mdash; what would it mean for the kids at school who struggle to get a good meal? They&rsquo;ll say it&rsquo;s wasteful. Or the parents who struggle to pay groceries and the things we do to try to keep food costs down, they&rsquo;ll say it&rsquo;s wasteful,&rdquo; Schumer added.<\/p>\n<p>At least three dozen Democratic senators will be part of a 30-hour talkathon in an effort to show they are fighting to stop Vought&rsquo;s nomination. There&rsquo;s virtually nothing Democrats can do to block Vought&rsquo;s confirmation, but they can delay it. While Republicans have a 53-47 advantage in the Senate, Democrats are able to slow down the process in a messaging play to warn about the threat they say Vought poses as the leader of the agency where President Donald Trump is trying to consolidate power.<\/p>\n<p>Vought&rsquo;s nomination is coming to a final Senate vote a week after an<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3304402\/trump-administration-backs-down-on-federal-aid-freeze\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"> OMB memo<\/a> came out directing agencies to temporarily halt nearly all federal grants, loans, and other financial assistance to beneficiaries in an effort to determine whether the spending complies with the president&rsquo;s agenda. The White House <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3304402\/trump-administration-backs-down-on-federal-aid-freeze\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">rescinded<\/a> the memo to &ldquo;end confusion&rdquo; after it faced legal challenges. While Vought was not technically atop the agency at the time, the White House indicated he was involved in the process.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Democrats continue to sound the alarm over Vought&rsquo;s<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3305799\/republicans-advance-russ-vought-democratic-boycott\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"> ties to Project 2025<\/a> and their warnings only grew after OMB&rsquo;s memo last week that called to freeze a large swath of federal funding, stressing that it&rsquo;s a foreshadowing of how Vought intends to operate as head of OMB.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), accompanied by other members of Congress, including Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), left, speaks during a rally against Elon Musk outside the Treasury Department in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. (AP Photo\/Jose Luis Magana)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&ldquo;We saw it last week, when they literally froze all federal funding, not even with the pretext of &lsquo;Hey, we&rsquo;re just going to review this and make sure there&rsquo;s no fraud, waste, and abuse,&rsquo; They just shut down the Medicaid portal. They shut down Head Start,&rdquo; said Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), speaking on the Senate floor on Wednesday.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This is the ability for the executive branch to literally seize power, storm into the offices of an agency that they hate and shut it down operationally and use a bunch of <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">white shoe law firms&#038;rsquo<\/a>; fancy-pants words to develop a pretext for eviscerating the United States Constitution, which clearly gives us the authority to establish spending laws,&rdquo; he added.<\/p>\n<p>Vought&rsquo;s expected installation as budget chief comes when Musk&rsquo;s Department of Government Efficiency has worked to execute Trump&rsquo;s cost-cutting initiatives to reduce the size of the U.S. government with remarkable speed.<\/p>\n<p>Vought and Musk have been building a partnership since Trump&rsquo;s victory in November, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/politics\/policy\/russell-vought-elon-musk-federal-budget-doge-670cd727\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">reporting<\/a> from the <em>Wall Street Journal. <\/em>During Vought&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3287869\/russell-vought-project-2025-senate-confirmation-hearing-2025\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">confirmation process<\/a>, he told lawmakers he viewed DOGE as an advisory panel intended to guide the budget office. Since that hearing, however, Musk has been given a much larger role, with access to technology and software.<\/p>\n<p>Musk and his DOGE lieutenants gained access to the government&rsquo;s payment system last week and shuttered the U.S. Agency for International Development without congressional approval. They also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3311264\/federal-workers-face-resignation-offer-deadline-as-musk-continues-dismantling-of-agencies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">have taken over<\/a> the Office of Personnel Management, which functions as the human resources department for the federal government. He also now has access at the General Services Administration which oversees federal property and government contracts.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) warned of unintended consequences of Musk&rsquo;s actions.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This astonishing mismanagement, turning over the federal government&rsquo;s entire payment system and sidelining the most senior career official responsible for managing it also puts the country at risk of defaulting on our debt, which could trigger a global financial crisis,&rdquo; Warren said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) defended the influence of Elon Musk and DOGE on Wednesday, saying the group&rsquo;s oversight over government agencies is &ldquo;a much welcome development.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think there&rsquo;s a gross overaction in the media to what&rsquo;s happening. The executive branch of government in our system has the right to evaluate how executive branch agencies are operating,&rdquo; Johnson said, speaking to reporters at a press conference. &ldquo;To ensure not only the intent of Congress in funding mechanisms but also the stewardship in precious taxpayer dollars is being handled well.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), the chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee,<a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/senate\/5125936-susan-collins-russell-vought-omb\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"> told<\/a> the<em> Hill <\/em>she intends to support Vought&rsquo;s nomination. However, she has expressed concerns about the growing power Musk appears to have been given.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no doubt that the president appears to have empowered Elon Musk to go far beyond what I think is appropriate,&rdquo; Collins said, speaking to reporters on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) said there should be &ldquo;some guardrails&rdquo; surrounding Musk&rsquo;s conflicts of interest. The world&rsquo;s richest man has several companies that have multiple contracts with the U.S. government. <\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s been given this responsibility, and access to Treasury files probably helps him do that in terms of finding efficiencies or more importantly finding inefficiencies,&rdquo; Cramer said. &ldquo;But as a major defense contractor, as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-desantis-will-issue-emergency-order-barring-state-licenses-for-florida-facilities-that-house-illegal-alien-children-from-biden-border-crisis\/\" title=\"Exclusive -- DeSantis Will Issue Emergency Order Barring State Licenses for Florida Facilities that House Illegal Alien Children from Biden Border Crisis\">major government contractor<\/a>, there have to be some guardrails,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Despite Democrat&rsquo;s efforts to derail Vought&rsquo;s nomination, he is expected to be confirmed by the Senate on Thursday evening.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1979240\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1979240\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Senate Democrats hold marathon speeches to oppose Vought&#8217;s nomination<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2657,"featured_media":2399475,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Schumer-Russ-Vought-scaled-1024x683.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[33619,49901,49902],"class_list":["post-2399474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-senate-democrats","tag-talkathon","tag-vought-protest"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Schumer-Russ-Vought-scaled-1024x683.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2399474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2657"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2399474"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2399474\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2399478,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2399474\/revisions\/2399478"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2399475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2399474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2399474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2399474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}