President Donald Trump’s nominee for the No. 2 position at the Office of Management and Budget scored committee approval Wednesday as Senate Republicans work to confirm him.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and the Senate Budget Committee both voted to advance the nomination of Hal Duncan to serve as deputy director of the White House agency known as the “nerve center” of the federal government.
Duncan has been serving in the role in an acting capacity since late last year, when Trump nominated then-Deputy Director Dan Bishop to serve as a U.S. attorney. Duncan has also worked with many Republican lawmakers during his tenure as an OMB liaison to Congress since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term.
“I’ve got confidence he’s the right person for the job,” Senate Budget Chair Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said, noting that he has worked with Duncan over the past year on plans to reduce fraud and waste in federal programs — as well as improve agency management — by tapping the $100 million Republicans gave OMB last year in their initial party-line package.
Democratic lawmakers have a different take, accusing Duncan of completely ignoring their inquiries during his time as associate director of Legislative Affairs at OMB.
“He just absolutely stonewalled any form of bipartisan cooperation or information,” said Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, the Budget Committee’s top Democrat. “So having really performed miserably in his former role, I certainly am not going to support him in this role.”
During his Senate vetting this summer, Duncan said he couldn’t rule out the use of any “fiscal tools,” including the pocket rescission tactic OMB employed last year to unilaterally cancel billions of dollars in foreign aid without Congress’ consent. The nominee has also expressed an eagerness to finalize the Trump administration’s plans to put political appointees in charge of approving or scrapping awards for federal grants.
Lawmakers in both parties have raised concern about the impending regulation to change the grant approval process. Most notably, Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) called this month for White House budget director Russ Vought to nix part of the proposal and extend the deadline for public comment, which closed last week.
Democrats have noted Duncan’s relative inexperience compared to other former top OMB officials, many of whom served as undersecretaries of other federal agencies or members of Congress before taking on the role. Duncan graduated with a bachelor’s degree less than a decade ago and worked as a Republican congressional aide before joining OMB last year.
“It’s a position of immense responsibility,” Merkley said. “And his resume and his testimony raise serious concerns.”
