Alex Padilla U.S. Senator for California

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Budget Committee, questioned Dan Bishop, nominee for Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), on his support of OMB and the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) irresponsible mass cuts to the federal workforce. He also pressed Bishop on whether he agrees with OMB Director Russell Vought’s agenda of putting federal employees into “trauma.”

Senator Padilla outlined the devastating impacts of these cuts — and future funding and hiring freezes — on California families.

• PADILLA: President Trump has made clear that the OMB’s sole mission, at least as he wishes it, under his Administration, is to cut programs, the very programs that so many Americans rely on in order to pay for another massive round of tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. In fact, during his address to Congress just last night, he doubled down on DOGE’s wildly unpopular agenda of chaos and corruption, proudly listing the ways he has and will continue to devastate communities.

• PADILLA: Mr. Bishop, I’d like for you to speak to the Californians that I represent for a minute here. I want them to hear how you’ll justify ripping away important services and programs while raising the cost of everything — that’s the impact that we’re seeing from this Administration. My constituents deserve to know exactly who to thank for these reckless cuts. 

The reckless DOGE cuts championed by President Trump haphazardly removed people working to contain the bird flu outbreak, thousands of seasonal National Park Service employees, and nuclear weapons security officials. Padilla pressed Bishop on his previous statements in his confirmation hearing in the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, in which he consistently claimed that President Trump’s firing of civil servants was not indiscriminate. Bishop repeatedly dodged Padilla’s questioning.

• PADILLA: The last six weeks, that’s all the time that it’s taken for President Trump and the Office of Management and Budget to wreak havoc across critical government programs. During your confirmation hearing in the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee last week, I heard you insist multiple times that President Trump’s firing of civil servants was not indiscriminate. Is that correct?

• BISHOP: That’s correct, and I continue to hold that view.

• PADILLA: All right, so was it not indiscriminate, or was it intentional when President Trump fired scientists fighting the bird flu outbreak while the cost of eggs continues to soar?

• BISHOP: We’d have to look at the details of that, Senator. I’m not aware of the specific point you’re making.

• PADILLA: You’re a smart man. You’re a smart man. I know you’ve seen the details. Was it indiscriminate or intentional when President Trump fired military veterans operating the Veterans Crisis Line?

• BISHOP: I’d have to look at the details of that Senator. I don’t as I said, I, I’m…

• PADILLA: … I’m asking these questions because you seem to be applauding Elon Musk’s efforts and this DOGE strategy and chaos.

• BISHOP: I certainly am.

• PADILLA: … To make matters worse, you know, in so many areas of these indiscriminate firings, they’ve had to scramble to hire them back shortly after they realized their colossal error. And I could go on and on with additional examples. But let’s be clear: this is not a one-time adjustment, as Mr. Bishop has characterized it.

Senator Padilla also referenced OMB Director Vought’s previous statements of his mission to put federal employees into “trauma.” Padilla questioned Bishop on his alignment with this goal, especially given the traumatic mass firings since Vought’s confirmation.

• PADILLA: There’s example after example of exactly that happening, given the activity of the last six weeks, and especially since Mr. Vought was confirmed. Is that what you’re signing up for? To help facilitate that? To help further that? Putting federal employees into trauma?

• BISHOP: You know, Senator, that comment in one of his writings that’s been taken or in one of the speeches has been taken out of context.

• PADILLA: It’s pretty clear and direct.

• BISHOP: No, it really, it really, it’s been used in a misleading way. I’ve seen — what he, what he means is that federal employees, that the American people need federal employees to perform. If federal employees themselves on surveys…

• PADILLA: How do they perform when they’re in trauma? When they’ve been traumatized by their employer?

Video of Senator Padilla’s full questioning is available here.

Senator Padilla spoke on the Senate floor last month in strong opposition to the chaotic OMB funding freeze memo and Russell Vought’s nomination. He also protested the Budget Committee advancing Vought’s nomination to be OMB director behind closed doors, despite the Trump Administration’s unprecedented attempt to freeze federal funding. Padilla questioned Vought on disaster relief funding to help Southern California recover and rebuild after the recent fires during his nomination hearing.

More information on today’s hearing is available here.

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