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Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., accused Trump Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought of being responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of children due to the budget cuts he has overseen under the Trump administration.
Vought faced a high-intensity grilling from both Democratic and GOP senators in the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday over a package of proposed budget cuts – called a rescissions package - the administration sent to the legislative branch earlier this month.
Democratic committee members, as well as some Republicans, appeared very frustrated with the administration over the proposed cuts. At one point during the hearing, several protesters stood and began shouting, causing the proceedings to briefly come to a halt. It was unclear what the protesters were objecting to.
While Vought claimed that the administration’s cuts to USAID and PEPFAR have not halted lifesaving treatment, Merkley asserted that the claim is a "huge deception."
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According to Merkley, a Boston University School of Public Health study claims that some 246,000 children have died due to the various foreign aid programs cut by DOGE.
"We are talking a quarter million children because of your irresponsible shutdown of programs that Congress had fully authorized, and you unconstitutionally shut down in partnership with Elon Musk and the Secretary of State," fired Merkley. "How do you feel about being responsible for hundreds of thousands of children dying because of your sudden interruption in these key programs?"
Vought soundly rejected the assertion, saying that every administration "has the ability to do a programmatic review when they come into office" and to make changes based on "new spending priorities."
Before he could finish, Merkley cut Vought off, saying, "I find your response both ignorant and callous."
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"You chose to shut down programs in the middle that have resulted in hundreds of thousands of children dying in the last few months. I find that abhorrent, and few Americans have ever had such a devastating and disastrously impact," Merkley exclaimed.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., also confronted Vought, accusing the administration of trying to illegally maneuver around Congress to make its cuts, which she said undermine American interests abroad.
"Will you tell us specifically where, the Philippines, Pacific islands, Jordan, you're planning to undermine American interests?" she asked, to which Vought responded: "Of course not. We've been very clear in all the administration's priorities that all of our commitments with regard to Jordan and Egypt are maintained."
Before Vought could finish, Murray cut in again, saying, "I assume you're unwilling to share which humanitarian crisis this administration plans to walk away with, which is what we would be voting on, and that is critical information."
But it wasn't just Democrats taking Vought to task during the hearing.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, also voiced frustration over the Trump administration’s DOGE cuts, taking particular issue with cuts to public broadcasting, which she said plays an important emergency services role in her state.
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., also voiced objections to the cuts to foreign aid, which he said were opportunities to project American soft power.
"Instead of creating efficiency, you've created vacuums for adversaries like China to fill responsible investments in soft power, prevent conflict, preserve American influence, and save countless of lives at the same time," said McConnell.
For his part, Vought said that "it is critical that this body and the American people writ large, understand that many foreign aid programs use benevolent-sounding titles to hide truly appalling activity that is not in line with American interests."
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Vought said the "entire federal government must be responsible with each taxpayer dollar that comes to Washington."
"The American people voted for change. President Trump stands ready to put our fiscal house back in order and put the American taxpayer first," he said, adding, "A vote for rescissions is a vote to show that the United States Senate is serious about getting our fiscal house in order. I hope that the Senate will join us in that fight."
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