From PBS NewsHour.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., questioned Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, about the Trump administration’s renaming of the Department of Defense, as well as the government’s broad downsizing of the federal workforce in a hearing Thursday held by the Senate Budget Committee.
In a back-and-forth exchange, Kaine questioned Vought whether the OMB chief had been instructed to call the Defense Department the “Department of War,” which Vought denied.
“OK, you’re just voluntarily complying with this whimsical cosplay,” Kaine said. He also said that in a debate to legally change the department’s name, those in favor of “Department of War” would “get laughed out of the room and you’ll become a punchline on TV.” Congress has the authority to formally approve a new name for the Defense Department.
Kaine then said the administration has fired 350,000 people in the federal workforce, just under 30% of whom are veterans.
“I think you have fired more veterans than any administration in the history of the United States,” Kaine said.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., followed-up Kaine’s questioning, suggesting the administration didn’t downsize solely through firing or laying off employees.
Vought said a “vast majority” of employees who left the workforce took an early retirement option.
Vought, a key figure in the Trump administration’s efforts to shrink the federal workforce, also defended the president’s budget request in a House hearing Wednesday.
Trump’s funding wish list for fiscal year 2027 includes a staggering bump for defense spending — a nearly 50% increase to $1.5 trillion — to build his "dream military."
The president’s budget request is not final, but it does signal the Trump administration’s priorities for the coming fiscal year. Though Trump has tried to exert more authority over spending in his second term, it’s up to both chambers to revise and approve the final budget in the coming months.
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