A fiscal conservative elected in the Tea Party wave of 2010 will now manage the federal budget for the Trump administration.
The Senate voted 51-49 on Thursday to confirm South Carolina Rep. Mick Mulvaney to be President Trump’s budget director.
Mulvaney’s confirmation was never certain until the last minute, thanks to opposition from all Democrats and concerns from several Republicans who had criticized Mulvaney’s votes in the House to limit defense spending. But two of Mulvaney’s GOP critics voted for him on Thursday: Susan Collins of Maine, and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran of Mississippi.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., was the lone GOP vote against Mulvaney. McCain was initially announced as a “yes” vote, but that was quickly corrected on the floor.
In joining Trump’s administration, Mulvaney brings representation of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus to the table in budget negotiations and spending decisions. That role was not guaranteed by Trump’s election, and Democrats tried during the confirmation process to highlight the differences between Mulvaney’s record and Trump’s campaign rhetoric.
While Trump distinguished himself from his primary opponents with populist pledges not to cut entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare, Mulvaney has long called for sweeping reforms to stabilize the nation’s finances. In confirmation hearings, Mulvaney stood by his fiscally conservative views, and said he would be an influence within the White House for a more aggressive approach to reining in entitlement spending and lowering the trajectory of the federal debt.
During his six-year tenure in the House of Representatives, Mulvaney stood apart as one of the most hard-core anti-spending members of the lower chamber. On several occasions, the former homebuilder helped lead the right flank that pushed House leadership into showdowns with the Obama administration over possible government shutdowns and the debt ceiling.
Now, Mulvaney will be the one tasked with keeping the government open and running smoothly. But Democrats believe he’s likely to push the federal government to the brink again given Mulvaney’s support for cuts.
Dick Durbin of Illinois, the number-two Democrat in the Senate, predicted that Mulvaney would try to cut essential programs and risk government shutdowns. “We’re in for a battle royale over the values in America,” he said on the Senate floor just before the vote.
