House Appropriations Committee holds OMB Oversight Hearing

On June 30, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government held an oversight hearing on the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) with testimony from Director Russell Vought.

During the hearing, several House Republicans, including Chairman David Joyce (R-OH), questioned Vought on OMB’s budget; and Vought praised the Administration’s efforts to end “fiscal futility.” Ranking Member Steny Hoyer (D-MD) Representative Glenn Ivey (D-MD) also expressed disappointment that the Committee did not hold a budget hearing before voting on the appropriations bills (see previous coverage).

The line of questioning quickly turned to unreleased fiscal year (FY) 2026 appropriated funds and OMB’s proposed rule on federal grant making (see previous coverage). Several House Democrats, including Ranking Member Hoyer and Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), claimed that OMB is withholding appropriated funds from researchers and scientists. When pressed on the release of appropriated funds, Vought evaded answering and claimed that OMB was working “expeditiously” to ensure grants were fully funded before the end of the fiscal year.

Appropriations Committee Ranking Member, Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) raised concerns about OMB’s “unprecedented” control over taxpayer dollars and disregard of Congressional directives. Further, Ranking Member DeLauro lamented the recently proposed rule from OMB on federal grants (see previous coverage), expressing concern that the proposed rule would “subject virtually all federal funding to the whims of the president’s policy priorities.”

Notably, Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA) asked Vought if he was directing agencies, such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), to pre-comply with OMB’s proposed rule to “overhaul grants procedure.” Vought denied that agencies were pre-complying and argued that they were lawfully following an Executive Order from last August, Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking (see previous coverage).

Rep. DeLauro also asked about the proposed rule, requesting to extend the comment period by 45 days; however, Vought said OMB would not be extending the comment period. Rep. DeLauro then shifted her line of questions to how the rule may negatively impact the grant review process. She also requested that Vought release a list of criteria that will be used to judge and determine whether grants are awarded or canceled.

Later, Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez raised concerns about OMB’s development of an artificial intelligence (AI) tool to “flag grants that are misaligned with the administration’s agenda.” Vought confirmed that such a tool is being developed during the hearing. When questioned further about the potential negative impacts and ethicality of an AI tool reviewing grants, Vought stated that it would not “take the place of agency officials.” He also claimed that the tool had not yet flagged any grants as inconsistent with the Administration’s priorities, stating that “agency officials that would be making these determinations based on the instructions given to them in the executive order,” not AI tools alone.

A recording of the hearing can be found here. Stay tuned for COSSA’s continued coverage on the federal grant making process.

This article was contributed by COSSA Intern Caroline Seo.