Russ Vought, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, made headlines this week with bold moves on federal workforce cuts. On Friday, Vought announced via social media that his office began issuing Reduction in Force notices to an unspecified number of furloughed federal employees, sparking immediate backlash as part of the Trump administrations push to shrink government. AOL reports this abrupt step aligns with Executive Order 14210, directing large-scale reductions in force across agencies.
Court battles intensified over these plans. On January 5, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied a government petition for rehearing en banc in a case brought by the American Federation of Government Employees against Vought, President Trump, and others. The courts order upheld a lower ruling requiring camera production of agency Reduction in Force and Reorganization Plans, rejecting claims of deliberative process privilege. Dissenting judges, including Judge Bumatay, argued the panel weakened separation of powers by forcing disclosure of internal executive documents, while the majority countered that the privilege did not apply here.
Congress pushed back too. A House explanatory statement for the fiscal year 2026 science budget, reported by Balanced Weather, rejected the administrations plan to eliminate the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Office of Oceanic Research and demanded the National Science Foundation maintain all facilities. It explicitly requires reprogramming requests for any deviations, aiming to curb Voughts influence on appropriations.
Voughts deregulatory efforts drew scrutiny as well. The American Action Forum noted OMB claimed 646 actions saving 211 billion dollars under Executive Order 14192, though details on calculations remain sparse.
These developments highlight Voughts central role in reshaping federal spending and structure amid legal and legislative friction.
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