Senate Dems hatch plan for all-nighter to oppose a Project 2025 architect
Senate Democrats are planning a full night of speeches in opposition to Russell Vought's nomination to head up the Office of Management and Budget.
Vought, who was instrumental in creating the right-wing to-do list "Project 2025," is expected to be confirmed in a vote Thursday evening. Democrats hope to stall the confirmation, however, by planning a marathon of speeches explaining why Vought is "dangerously unfit" for the job.
The all-nighter is being led by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), as well as Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Patty Murray (D-WA), Gary Peters (D-MI), and Brian Schatz (D-HI). The speeches got underway shortly after 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday.
According to a Senate release posted online by journalist David Corn, "As the architect of the radical Project 2025, Vought's proposals to slash federal funding will threaten Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security. Vought will also continue to carry out President Donald Trump's illegal federal funding cuts, stopping taxpayer dollars from supporting local schools, police departments, community health centers, food pantries, firefighters, and other vital programs."
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Sen. Murray posted a video to social media making her case against Vought.
"Russ Vought—Trump's nominee to manage our nation's budget—is an abortion abolitionist, meaning he supports *prosecuting abortion as homicide and putting women in prison* even in cases of rape or when the mother's life is at risk. He's an extremist who has NO place in government," Murray said.
CNN reported, "Democrats have been sounding the alarm on Vought’s ties to Project 2025, and his insistence that the 2020 election was 'rigged,' for weeks, but their calls for Trump to pull his nomination only grew after OMB released a memo last week freezing federal funding. This memo was eventually rescinded, but Democrats called it a warning sign for how Vought would run the office. OMB plays a key role in enacting the president’s agenda."