The Republican-controlled U.S. Senate Budget Committee will move ahead on confirming President Donald Trump's pick for budget chief Russell Vought despite calls from top Democrats for a delay after an order halting all federal grants and loans.

Vought, who was believed to be a major player in the controversial "Project 2025" blueprint, wrote "I believe that the 2020 election was rigged.”

Russell Vought has signaled he hopes to slash spending — and push the limits of presidential power to achieve Trump’s agenda.

President Trump's pick to lead the Office of Management and Budget faced a tough grilling from Democratic lawmakers on the Senate Budget Committee on Wednesday.

The Senate Budget Committee, led by Republicans, is set to confirm Russell Vought as budget chief. This decision proceeds despite Democratic calls for a delay following a federal grants and loans halt directive.

Office of Management and Budget Acting Director Russell Vought arrives to testify during a hearing of the House Budget Committee about President Trump's budget for Fiscal Year 2021, on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Russell Vought, President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget, promised to help American taxpayers while undergoing a contentious confirmation hearing on Wednesday.

Vought was OMB director during Trump’s first term. He already had a hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Vought, a co-author of Project 2025 who served as budget director in Donald Trump's first term, has signaled he will take a more aggressive approach to helping the president-elect carry out his agenda of shrinking the federal government.

Russell Vought, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be director of the Office of Management and Budget, testifies during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

If confirmed, Mr. Vought will be at the center of President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to upend the federal bureaucracy.

Russell Vought, President Donald Trump’s nominee for director of the Office of Management and Budget, will testify before Congress for the second time. Since the first, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) met with Vought and released a statement disagreeing with the nomination.