The Trump administration’s budget director, Russell Vought, is seeking to set the record straight on how the agency is handling President-elect Joe Biden’s transition.
Vought penned a letter to the transition lead to “correct several false statements that members of the Biden Transition Team (BTT) are continuing to make regarding the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) cooperation with your team.”
He noted on the same day the General Service Administration (GSA) provided ascertainment, the agency allocated $9.9 million for transition processes.
Vought argued the office “has provided significant briefing materials on its operations, and has provided factual information about ongoing programs to the BTT upon request.”
He said the agency has held more than 45 meetings with the transition team.
Biden’s team has also been briefed on topics surrounding COVID-19 including Operation Warp Speed and other efforts, according to Vought.
“As the record shows, OMB has fully participated in appropriate transition efforts. What we have not done and will not do is use current OMB staff to write the BTT’s legislative policy proposals to dismantle this Administration’s work,” Vought wrote.
He added, “Our system of government has one President and one Administration at a time. OMB will not participate in developing policies that will weaken border security, dismantle the President’s deregulatory successes, and draft budgets that will bankrupt America.”
While delivering remarks on Monday, Biden claimed some agencies are making it harder for his team to access information, as IJR previously reported.
“From some agencies, our team’s received exemplary cooperation from the career staff in those agencies,” he said. “From others, most notably the Department of Defense, we encountered obstruction from the political leadership.”
He continued, “As I said from the beginning, we’ve encountered roadblocks from the political leadership at the Department of Defense and the Office of Management and Budget. Right now, we just aren’t getting all the information that we need from the outgoing administration in key national security areas. It’s nothing short, in my view, of irresponsibility.”
