Senate confirms new OMB director, clearing path for increased focus on deregulatory priorities

Washington, D.C.; July 22, 2020: On Monday, the U.S Senate confirmed Russ Vought as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget by a vote of 51-45.

“After years in which the previous OMB director had competing obligations, it’s wonderful that that OMB has a confirmed director who’s shown strong support for principled deregulatory reforms,” said Joe Luppino-Esposito, director of federal affairs for Pacific Legal Foundation. “With the usual confirmation distractions cleared out of the way, Director Vought and others at OMB are free to focus again on reforms that reduce excessive regulatory burdens and agency abuse.”

OMB has a central role in implementing three recent executive orders. Executive Orders 13,891 and 13,892 established safeguards for new agency guidance documents and deadlines to review existing guidance documents to limit improper uses against the American people. Executive Order 13,924 provides a regulatory bill of rights intended to ensure fairness in regulatory agency procedures. PLF advocated for many of the reforms contained in these executive orders and has urged further action to fully implement them.

“OMB still has much work to do to fulfill the promise of these executive orders,” Luppino-Esposito said. “We look forward to working with Director Vought and OMB to ensure that illegal guidance documents are withdrawn and that additional steps are taken to ensure that the fairness principles in the ‘regulatory bill of rights’ are followed.”