Senator John Kennedy dropped the mic while questioning the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), calling out woke fact-checkers using a hilarious biblical analogy and noting that the director would “be called crazy” for challenging the status quo and cutting into fraudulent spending in the federal government.
For background, on January 22, 2025, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) questioned Office of Management and Budget (OMB) nominee Russell Vought as he testified before the Senate Budget Committee. During questioning, Sen. Kennedy warned Vought that he was going to be challenged by so-called “fact-checkers” in response to calling out fraudulent spending under the Biden administration.
Beginning his statements to Vought, Sen. Kennedy said that he did not know “a single person in Washington or outside Washington who knows more about the federal budget than you do,” adding, “I used to read your suggestions during President Trump’s first term, many of which Congress ignored.” He continued, “We shouldn’t have. I am delighted that the president picked you.”
Continuing, Sen. Kennedy ripped into former President Biden, saying, “I have read that since 2019, the population of America has increased 2% and our spending has increased 55%. Under President Biden, I wish him well, if we had discovered life on Mars, he would have sent it money.” He then asked Vought, “Is that sustainable?” To which Vought replied, “Senator, it’s totally unsustainable.”
Building on his point, Vought said that the “trajectory” set up by former President Biden led to “major problems in the economy, as a country, and we know that historically.” Sen. Kennedy replied, “I hope you’ll start with the low-hanging fruit, and there’s a lot.” He added, “When we sent out stimulus checks to save our economy, $1.6 billion went to dead people, and the checks were cashed.”
Next, the senator noted that the cashing of stimulus checks issued to dead people was “obviously fraud,” adding, “When you die in America, your name is sent to the Social Security Administration. As you know, you become part of the Master Death File.” The senator then explained that he participated in the passing of a bill that would obligate the Social Security Administration to share its Master Death File with the Treasury Department “and other people who write checks.”
In addition, Sen. Kennedy asked if Vought would use his power as head of OMB to make the proposed bill permanent, to which Vought replied, “Yes, senator.” Sen. Kennedy responded, “Now, you’ve served in Washington for years. You’re going to be challenging the status quo. You’re going to be called crazy.”
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Then, Sen. Kennedy threw out a hilarious metaphor for Vought’s predicament, saying, “Many people also called Noah crazy. Then the rains came, and all the fact-checkers died. He added, “You have to persevere.” Vought responded by sharing his strategy for making the federal budget sustainable, saying, “It’s the strategy that we had in the first term, which is to go…and take a very close look at the agencies that are spending and wasting money and, I believe, weaponized at times against the American people.”
Watch the clip:
Featured image credit: video screengrab