President Trump will name Russell Vought, the current deputy at the Office of Management and Budget, as the agency’s acting director.
Vought will oversee day-to-day operations at the agency while OMB Director Mick Mulvaney will act as Trump’s new White House chief of staff.
The arrangement is similar to Mulvaney’s transitional role as acting director at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which recently ended when the Senate confirmed another OMB senior staffer, Kathy Kraninger, as the financial regulatory agency’s director.
Vought was a vice president at Heritage Action, the political wing of the conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation, prior to joining the administration. Vought also previously worked as executive director of the influential Republican Study Committee, a large conservative caucus within the House Republican Conference.
Vought was confirmed by the Senate to his deputy director position in February. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn R-Texas, blocked Vought’s confirmation vote for months over the administration’s reluctance to request more hurricane relief funding for Cornyn’s state.
Under federal law, Vought can act as OMB’s director for 210 days without either being nominated himself or without Trump picking a permanent replacement for Mulvaney. But for now, it appears that Mulvaney plans to return to his original job after a temporary stint at the White House.
“Mick Mulvaney will not resign from the Office Of Management and Budget, but will spend all of his time devoted to his role as the acting Chief Of Staff for the President,” said White House press secretary Sarah Sanders in a statement provided to the White House press pool. “Russ Vought will handle day to day operations and run OMB.”
