Russell Vought, the Trump administration’s budget director, defended on Thursday how his agency handled President-elect requests Joe Biden
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In a letter to the transition chief, Vought stated that Biden’s team had made “several false statements” about the lack of cooperation from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and rejected the idea that the agency should collaborate with advisers to Biden in the development budget or policy proposals.
“As the record shows, OMB participated fully in the appropriate transition efforts,” wrote Vought. “What we have not done and will not do is use the current OMB staff to write BTT’s legislative policy proposals to dismantle the work of this administration.”
“The OMB team is working on the policies of this government and will do so until the last day of this government’s term,” continued Vought. “Redirecting staff and resources to draft your team’s budget proposals is not a transition responsibility for OMB.”
A spokesman for the Biden transition argued that parts of Vought’s letter reinforced the president-elect’s arguments by confirming that OMB is not interested in working with the Biden team on its agenda.
“In this moment of unprecedented crisis, when millions of American families are experiencing terrible economic difficulties, it is indefensible to undermine the ability of the United States government to prepare a budget and provide aid efficiently to those who need it most, especially explicitly,” he said. partisanship, “said Andrew Bates in a statement.
Bates said the OMB’s position “goes against the way the OMB has operated during each presidential transition for decades”.
An OMB spokesman said earlier this week that the agency had rejected only two requests from the Biden transition team – that they “make it impossible” to build the border wall and write the president-elect’s proposed budget.
The OMB team had more than 45 meetings with members of the Biden transition team, wrote Vought, and informed transition officers about Operation Warp Speed and other coronavirus pandemic relief efforts and provided information about the programs in progress. progress.
“In addition, there is a record of his team accessing these essential documents last week,” wrote Vought.
Vought’s letter is the latest escalation of tensions between the Trump administration and Biden’s team in the midst of a difficult transition period. President Trump
Donald Trump Trump hotel in DC raises room rates for the inauguration of Biden Republican Party Legislator criticizes Trump and colleagues for ‘trying to discredit’ the election Video shows long lines on the last day of early voting in Georgia MORE refused to accept the election results, insisting that the result was “rigged” despite a series of defeats in court.
Biden and his team have recently chosen the Pentagon and OMB as agencies that have created obstacles, making it more difficult to prepare to take office next month.
“It is nothing less than irresponsibility, in my opinion,” said Biden on Monday.
Yohannes Abraham, the transition’s executive director, said during a meeting with reporters on Wednesday that the agency’s review teams dealt with the “obstruction of political leadership” in the Pentagon and the OMB.
In previous transitions, OMB provided analytical support for new administrations to help them fulfill political priorities and draft a budget proposal.
“This analytical support was not provided by OMB and there are no signs that it will be available in the next few days,” said Abraham.
Updated at 17:35