AMNA NAWAZ: Meanwhile, president-elect Trump's nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought, also faced difficult questions on the Hill today.

Appearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, he was pressed about the administration's plans to shrink spending and exert greater power over government agencies.

GEOFF BENNETT: Mr. Vought previously led the office for part of Mr. Trump's first term.

He's also a co-author of Project 2025.

That's the controversial Heritage Foundation blueprint for a second Trump administration.

Our White House correspondent, Laura Barron-Lopez, joins us now for more on that hearing.

So, Laura, remind us of who Russell Vought is and what the OMB does across the federal government.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: The head of the Office of Management and Budget, Geoff, is not usually a household name, but it is an incredibly important position in the White House.

And the head of the OMB oversees spending and can review all regulations across agencies that agencies write, is in charge of the president's budget policy, and is often involved in Hill negotiations.

Now, when it comes to Russell Vought, Vought served in this role, as you noted, Geoff, during the first Trump administration.

And he wrote a Project 2025 chapter specifically on transforming the presidency and expanding its powers.

And in the time between the first Trump administration and now this incoming one, he was head of a conservative think tank Center for Renewing America.

And at that think tank, he drafted hundreds of potential executive orders and memos in preparation for a second Trump administration.

GEOFF BENNETT: And you were, of course, tracking his confirmation hearing today.

What stood out to you?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Geoff, the Republican senators welcomed this nomination, focusing more their questions on how OMB and the Trump administration would slash what they consider wasteful spending.

But Democrats pressed Vought on his track record.

When he was OMB director during the first administration, under his leadership, the Budget Office delayed disaster relief to Puerto Rico.

And it also withheld funds appropriated by Congress for Ukraine.

And so at the heart of those questions from Democrats is what's known as impoundment authority, Geoff.

And Vought said that he believes that impoundment authority is unconstitutional.

Now, what is that?

Under the law, the president is forbidden from clawing back, from declining to spend funds that are appropriated by Congress for government agencies.

But Vought made clear he thinks it's unconstitutional and that the president, the incoming president, thinks it's unconstitutional.

And that could very well -- they would test the limits of it and draw a court challenge.

He was also repeatedly asked about his support of replacing career civil servants across agencies and firing them and replacing them with political appointees who would put President Trump first.

SEN. ELISSA SLOTKIN (D-MI): Do you believe that intelligence agencies and law enforcement agencies need more political appointees to keep kind of management at those agencies?

RUSSELL VOUGHT, Office of Management and Budget Director Nominee: Again, I'm not going to speak on behalf of a specific proposal that the president has not made.

SEN. ELISSA SLOTKIN: But what's your view?

Would you support a proposal?

I'm just asking.

You want the job.

You want it back.

Would you support a proposal to put more political appointees to oversee the activities of American law enforcement at the federal level and American intelligence community?

RUSSELL VOUGHT: Again, the president hasn't spoken to that matter, to my knowledge.

And I'm not here on behalf of my own personal views.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Now, the facts are, Geoff, that Vought, as well as Trump, throughout the campaign cycle talked about reinstituting Schedule F, which is an executive order that would allow for the replacement of civil servants, essentially firing a number of civil servants, as many as 50,000, and replacing them with political appointees.

And that's expected to be at the top of their agenda when they take the Oval Office.

But, ultimately, Geoff, Russell Vought is expected to be confirmed, and he's unlikely to face any resistance from Republican senators.

GEOFF BENNETT: And he stands to be highly influential in a second Trump administration.

Has he said what he wants to do in this role?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Today, he tried to create some distance between his past comments, Geoff, and what his think tank proposed versus Donald Trump's agenda.

But Vought stands to be highly influential and expand the Budget Office.

Specifically, he has talked about the fact that he believes the president can slash spending programs without Congress.

He has drafted plans to use military during times of civil unrest.

He believes that the president can assert more control over the Justice Department.

And Vought also supports stripping federal workers of protections.

And as for agencies' abilities to remain independent, Vought has previously said that he wants to destroy any notion of independence across agencies.

RUSSELL VOUGHT: We have to solve the woke and the weaponized bureaucracy and have the president take control of the executive branch.

So my belief for anyone who wants to listen is that you have to -- the president has to move executively as fast and as aggressively as possible with a radical constitutional perspective to be able to dismantle that bureaucracy and their power centers.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Big picture, Geoff, Russell Vought will be at the center of any of Donald Trump's plans to gut the federal work force or to challenge Congress' power of the purse strings.

GEOFF BENNETT: A jam-packed day of confirmation hearings.

Laura Barron-Lopez, our thanks to you.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Thank you.