Warner announces opposition to Mulvaney for OMB

WASHINGTON— U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), a member of the Senate Budget and Finance Committees, announced today that he will oppose confirming Rep. Mick Mulvaney as Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). He released the following statement:

“While I respect Congressman Mulvaney’s service in the House of Representatives and appreciate his responses before the Budget Committee, I simply cannot vote to confirm him as Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

“I appreciate Congressman Mulvaney’s recognition of the problem posed by our national debt, but I could not disagree more with his approach to addressing the issue. It is deeply irresponsible to use the threat of a government shutdown or debt default as a political bargaining chip, and the across-the-board sequestration cuts that Congressman Mulvaney has supported have hurt our military and allowed lawmakers to avoid making tough budget decisions. Moreover, Congressman Mulvaney’s continued focus on reducing the size of the federal workforce through attrition makes it clear that he is not committed to thinking strategically about the challenges our federal workers will face in the coming years.

“OMB wields enormous influence over the operations and policymaking agendas of virtually all federal agencies. If he is confirmed, I expect that Congressman Mulvaney will remain committed to fully implementing the fiscal transparency and accountability requirements in the DATA Act.”

Sen. Warner previously announced he will vote against Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions, Education Secretary nominee Betsy DeVos, Health & Human Services Secretary nominee Tom Price, and Treasury Secretary nominee Steve Mnuchin.