White House OMB Director Russell Vought: DHS ‘disintegrating’

White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought told senators at a Budget Committee hearing Thursday that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is “disintegrating” because Congress has not funded the department since its appropriations lapsed Feb. 14.

Vought told senators that the situation at the embattled department is becoming dire as he and Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin scramble to keep federal workers from quitting in droves.

“There is no money for the entirety of the Department of Homeland Security,” Vought told Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

“As of right now, the Department of Homeland Security is disintegrating because the secretary and I are having to figure out ways to temporarily fund people’s paychecks so we don’t have people quit and embark on new careers,” Vought said.

The senior Trump administration official warned that more workers will quit if Congress doesn’t find an end to the two-month partial government shutdown soon.

“Some of the things we were seeing the weekend Secretary Mullin took office was incredibly concerning; we have to have a funding mechanism for the entirety of the Department of Homeland Security,” Vought testified.

He warned that a continuing failure to fund the department will put public safety at risk.

Vought testified that all components of the Department of Homeland Security are unfunded, including the disaster relief fund, leaving the federal government unprepared to respond to natural disasters.

“As we draw down that [disaster relief] fund, we are not prepared for a natural disaster from a funding standpoint,” he said.

He said the administration is “temporarily” using a fund from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act enacted last year to pay salaries so that the Homeland Security secretary “doesn’t have a complete walkout on his hands.”

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