Senate confirms Project 2025 co-author as Trump budget chief

The US Senate has confirmed President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the White House budget office, Russell Vought, hours after Democrats staged an all-night hearing in the chamber in protest.

Vought's nomination to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has been controversial due to his role as an author of Project 2025, a "wish list" of conservative priorities for Trump in his second term.

Democrats held the floor overnight into Thursday, delivering speeches criticising Vought's role in Trump's efforts to shrink the federal government.

But with Democrats the minority in the chamber, Republican votes for Vought were enough to confirm him to the new role by 53-47.

Project 2025 was created by the Heritage Foundation, one of Washington's most prominent right-wing think tanks, and calls for the entire federal bureaucracy, including independent agencies like the Department of Justice, to be placed under direct presidential control.

It also advocates for eliminating job protections for thousands of government employees, who could then be replaced by political appointees, and calls for a nationwide ban on abortion.

Vought wrote a key chapter in the document on the executive office of the president, and served as the Republican National Committee's 2024 platform policy director.

He will now administer the $6.75tn (£5.44tn) federal budget. He served in the same role during Trump's first administration.

Democrats are already outraged by Trump's budget decisions since returning to the White House, including the move to cut funding for the US Agency for International Development (USAID), reportedly allowing Elon Musk access to sensitive Treasury payroll documents, and his attempts to shrink the federal workforce with a buyout programme.

Faced with the quick pace of Trump's executive orders, Democrats rallied around funding and the federal budget in their overnight session, and sought to make an example of Vought in an attempt to tank his nomination.

Democrats painted Vought as Trump's "most dangerous nominee" due to his control over funds that have been allocated by Congress.

Democratic minority Senate leader Chuck Schumer described Vought as "the most radical nominee, who has the most extreme agenda".

"We want Americans every hour, whether it's 8pm or 3am, to hear how bad Russell Vought is and the danger he poses to them in their daily lives," he said on the Senate floor.

Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said Vought was already making radical changes to government, even before he was confirmed.

"Russ Vought was the puppet master behind the funding shut down that threw this country into chaos," Warren said, referring to last week's funding freeze on many federal projects.

Republicans hold a 53-47 majority over Democrats in the chamber, which made it impossible for the minority party to block Vought's confirmation without objections from Republicans.

Vought received the backing of all Republicans, including Utah Senator Mike Lee, who took X to congratulate him.

"If you like what you've been seeing from President Trump and DOGE, get ready, because Russ Vought is going to be a lean, mean, budget-cutting machine leading OMB," Lee wrote.

With additional reporting by Anthony Zurcher