NBC: Vought says he won’t ‘politicize’ disbursement of L.A. disaster aid
By Rebecca Shabad
Vought said that he doesn’t plan to “politicize” the disbursement of federal funds when asked about supporting L.A.’s recovery from the recent wildfires.
“Senator, I would not politicize the dispersing of federal funds in any capacity,” Vought said when asked by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., specifically about aid for the wildfires.
Vought says he won’t ‘politicize’ disbursement of L.A. disaster aid, continued
“That’s great to hear,” Padilla said. “Because you say you’re gonna implement the president’s agenda. I’ve been paying very close to his remarks since the outset of the devastating fires in Southern California these last few weeks. I’d like to ask you, Mr. Vought, will you commit to getting congressionally appropriated funding out to Californians devastated by these fires as quickly as possible?”
Vought said, “The president has always been a firm distributor of federal resources to areas that need disaster money, and I don’t expect that to change, and … that’s characterized my time at OMB, the first time around.”
Padilla said he continues to hear comments from Trump and GOP congressional leaders who have suggested they plan to attach conditions to disaster funding.
When Vought served as deputy director at the Office of Management and Budget under the first Trump administration, officials withheld about $20 billion in funding to Puerto Rico in the wake of hurricanes Maria and Irma. The Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General later determined in a 2021 report that the holdup was due to tensions between HUD and OMB.
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