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ATR President Grover Norquist has released a letter in support of Russ Vought’s nomination for OMB Director. 

Vought has long been a champion of pro-growth, fiscally responsible regulatory reform, spending reform, and tax reform. He is the perfect choice to permanently lead the Office of Management and Budget and shepherd through policies that address Washington’s overspending problem and grow the economy. 

You can read the full letter here or below. 

Dear Chairman Johnson and Chairman Enzi:

I write in support of Russ Vought’s nomination to become the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Russ Vought has been a champion of pro-growth, fiscally responsible regulatory reform, spending reform, and tax reform. He is the perfect choice to permanently lead the Office of Management and Budget and shepherd through policies that address Washington’s overspending problem and grow the economy. 

The OMB is in charge of promulgating the President’s budget, supervising agency performance, and implementing the President’s regulatory vision.

While serving as Acting OMB Director since January 2019, Vought has been a leader in addressing Washington’s overspending problem and cutting the red tape that inhibits economic growth.

Throughout this tenure, Vought has overseen some of the most fiscally conservative Presidential budgets in history. For instance, President Trump’s Fiscal Year 2021 budget balances in 15 years, calls for making the middle class tax cuts permanent, and includes $4.6 trillion in deficit reduction.

Vought has also been a key player in developing and implementing Trump’s deregulatory agenda, which kickstarted one of the strongest economies in American history before the pandemic hit. In the first two years alone, the Trump Administration reduced regulatory costs by $33 billion.

More recently, the President signed two executive orders designed to make federal agencies more accountable to the taxpayer. Trump’s “Transparency and Fairness” order prohibits agencies from enforcing rules that have not been made public in advance. Trump’s “Bringing Guidance Out of The Darkness” order stops agencies from enforcing informal guidance documents that have not gone through public review.

Importantly, the administration has made deregulation a centerpiece of the response to COVID-19, leading to the suspension of nearly 600 rules and regulations across the country. Trump’s most recent deregulatory executive order authorizes agencies to permanently repeal regulations waived during the pandemic if agencies determine they were never necessary in the first place.

As Acting Director of OMB, Russ Vought has accumulated an impressive record of advancing free market policies. Moving forward, Director Vought’s leadership on deregulation, tax reform, and spending reduction will be key to ensuring the U.S. recovers from the economic damage caused by the Coronavirus pandemic.

Senators should support his nomination and vote to confirm him as Director of OMB.

Onward,

Grover Norquist
President, Americans for Tax Reform