California Sen. Alex Padilla, other Democrats boycott Vought confirmation vote
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PADILLA JOINS OTHER SENATE DEMS IN BOYCOTTING VOUGHT VOTE
Via David Lightman...
Sen. Alex Padilla is adamant — Russell Vought’s nomination as federal budget director must be stopped.
Vought’s confirmation could be considered by the Senate as soon as this week. He got approval from the Republican-led Senate Budget Committee last week, but only after Democrats, including Padilla, boycotted the vote.
The Democrats held a news conference, and Padilla, a California Democrat, fired away.
“This is an attempt at a one-man government shutdown, brought to us by President Trump,” the senator said at the news conference.
On Monday, the Trump administration announced a pause on federal grants and other financial aid. Tuesday, a judge temporarily halted the freeze.
Wednesday, the White House rescinded its action, after its pause triggered confusion and anger among state and local officials across the nation.
Vought has said that the president is able to withhold spending, despite a 1974 law that limits a president’s ability to stop funding approved by Congress.
HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE TO DISCUSS CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES
Via David Lightman...
California’s efforts to fight and prevent wildfires will get a congressional hearing this week.
A House judiciary subcommittee will hear testimony Thursday on “California Fires and the Consequences of Overregulation.”
A statement from the Republican-led subcommittee said the session “will examine the real impacts of regulatory policy on the prevention of natural disasters, particularly in the case of California’s wildfires.”
The statement said the subcommittee also plans to “address how excessive regulation on insurance and permitting serves as a roadblock to those recovering from disaster.”
Witnesses will include Steve Hilton, founder Golden Together, a California-based research group; Steven Greenhut, resident senior fellow and Western Region Director, State Affairs, R Street Institute, a moderate-conservative research group, and Edward Ring, Director, Water and Energy Policy at the California Policy Center, a libertarian and conservative group.
Chairman of the 14-member Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust is Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wisconsin. California members are Reps. Darrell Issa, R-San Marcos, Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose and Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana.
At least 29 people have died in the fires, which began to burn January 7 and forced thousands from their homes in the Los Angeles area.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Last year, some said those of us concerned about Trump tanking our democracy were being drama queens. Just this week, Trump illegally froze huge swaths of federal funding, illegally fired inspectors general & targeted a political opponent. PBS is being hauled before Congress. This is so real.”
- Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, in a Friday post on Bluesky.
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