Congress Should Reject Harold Duncan as OMB Deputy Director

For Immediate Release: June 16, 2026
Contact: David Rosen, drosen@citizen.org

WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as deputy director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Harold “Hal” Duncan, is expected to testify before both the U.S. Senate Budget and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committees this week. OMB is supposed to disperse funds appropriated by Congress, but under the Trump administration, the agency has ignored congressional directives in favor of Trump and OMB Director Russell Vought’s corrupt agenda. The Coalition for Sensible Safeguards and 25 groups are urging Congress to reject Duncan’s nomination.

Rachel Weintraub, executive director of the Coalition for Sensible Safeguards, stated:

“Congress should oppose Hal Duncan for this important position at OMB. Duncan has been part of Vought’s leadership team that seeks to politicize federal grant funding and has already vastly decreased funding for critical government agencies by defying congressional budget allocations. Duncan’s views on government employees and experts break with decades of precedent regarding civil service protections.”

Katie Tracy, senior regulatory policy advocate at Public Citizen, stated:

“The current OMB leadership has shown it does not respect congressional authority and has no intention of complying with the law. If Duncan is confirmed, OMB will continue to defund agencies, undermine science, destroy equity initiatives, roll back environmental and consumer protections, and ignore the law. Agencies will not be able to fulfill their missions and deliver vital safeguards for American families. Congress must block the administration from pursuing these corrupt objectives.”