Virginia Senators Grill OMB Nominee on Hiring Freeze

One day after signing an across the board hiring freeze, with limited exemptions for military personnel and national security purposes, President Trump’s pick to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) was met with a sharp line of questioning from Democratic Virginia Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine.

Today, Representative Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) sat before the Senate Committee on Budget for his confirmation hearing, where he was repeatedly asked about the executive order and broader issues pertaining to the federal workforce.

“Why is the administration pitching the false view that federal workers are corrupt or beholden to special interests,” Kaine asked at one point.

Kaine also pressed the nominee on possible issues that could arise from an overall freeze in hiring, including potential backlogs at Social Security.

“I don’t think you’re wrong to be concerned about it, Senator,” Mulvaney replied. “I don’t think it automatically follows that hiring more people will create more efficiency.” 

Warner also addressed the issue of recruitment and retention in the federal workforce.

“Do you agree that if we’re going to recruit and retain the best workers — and they are going to have to do a job that is going to continue to be challenged, as we look at ways to get our budget into balance — how are we going to do that when we’ve got disparity between private and public sector payment, when we send these kind of messages about the value of federal workers on a going-forward basis,” Warner said.