South Carolina representative Mick Mulvaney was confirmed to lead the Office of Management and Budget on Thursday morning by a razor-thin 51-49 vote, overcoming the opposition of fellow Republican John McCain.
The Arizona senator had criticized Mulvaney, a Tea Party-aligned congressman and comprehensive fiscal hawk, for having backed Pentagon cuts during his House tenure. “This is about my conviction as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee that providing for the common defense is our highest constitutional duty, and that rebuilding our military must be the number-one priority of the Congress and the White House,” McCain said during Senate floor remarks on Wednesday.
Mulvaney has taken the typical heat from Democrats, as well, over his support of entitlement reform. He was one of multiple Cabinet nominations that the minority party had targeted for special scrutiny in the confirmation process for President Donald Trump’s executive nominees.
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell criticized Democrats for “unnecessary delay” upon Mulvaney’s approval. Also Thursday, the upper chamber advanced Scott Pruitt closer to securing his leadership of the EPA. The Oklahoma attorney general was a fierce critic of Obama-era environmental policies; he sued the agency on behalf of his state multiple times during the previous administration. The Senate voted 54-46 to tee up a confirmation vote that could come Friday.
