President Donald Trump’s nominee for the No. 2 position at the Office of Management and Budget scored initial committee approval Wednesday as Senate Republicans work to confirm him.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee 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.
The Senate Budget Committee is also scheduled to vote Wednesday morning to approve the nomination.
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.
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.
Duncan 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.
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