White House budget chief Russell Vought faced heat from both sides Wednesday as he sought to make the case to senators to pass the administration’s roughly $9 billion in proposed cuts to foreign aid and public broadcasting funds.

Vought testified before the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee to defend the special request from the administration, which was approved by the House just weeks ago.

The testimony comes amid mounting scrutiny over the administration's sweeping operation to shrink and reshape the federal government. Just as Vought, head of the Office of Budget and Management (OMB), was set to testify on Wednesday, a group of protesters disrupted the meeting as they appeared to shout, "Vought lies, people die."

In his opening remarks, Vought touted the proposed cuts as a reflection of the administration's “steadfast commitment to cutting wasteful federal spending antithetical to American interests.” He pointed to funding for items like “LGBTQ advocacy in Uganda,” “transgender people, sex workers and their clients in Nepal” and “LGBTQ activism.”

"Most Americans would be shocked and appalled to learn that their tax dollars, money they thought was going to medical care, was actually going to far left activism, population control and sex workers," Vought said. "To be clear, no life-saving treatment will be impacted by this rescissions package."

But lawmakers on both sides have pushed back on the scope of proposed cuts, arguing that examples like those shared by Vought and other Republicans to make the case for the rescissions package wouldn't be funded under the Trump administration.

“There's no way that President Trump's administration would allow such wasteful and questionable spending,” Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) told Vought.

“So, I am puzzled why you would be cutting funds that the president signed in March as part of the continuing resolution,” she continued, referring to funding legislation Trump signed in March........

© The Hill