Elon Musk has left Washington, D.C., but a who’s who of secular and Christian conservative leaders says the Trump administration should continue making chainsaw-style cuts to federal departments and programs Congress previously approved.
“Conservatives are united behind the efforts of President Trump and Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought in pursuing a robust strategy of pocket rescissions to cut spending and return accountability to the federal government,” said a statement approved by 100 leaders.
Recission — the effort by the executive branch to overrule the will of Congress by clawing back legislated funding — is a favorite weapon for Vought, an enthusiastic Christian nationalist who believes the American people — and God — have called him to supplant the power granted to legislators or courts.
“As Congress prepares their appropriations legislation, it has become clear that big spenders in Congress and establishment Washington are intent on undermining President Trump’s popular cost cutting agenda,” says the statement.
Richard Viguerie, the pioneer of direct mail fundraising, and a founder of the Right Wing, photographed at his company, American Target Advertising, in Manassas. In his company’s board room in 2004. (Photo by Tracy A. Woodward/The The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Richard A. Viguerie, a 91-year-old hero of conservative activists and fundraisers, announced the statement via his outlet ConservativeHQ.com. The 100 signers show how conservative Christian groups are increasingly partnering with powerful, old-school conservative groups.
The key Christian groups supporting the statement are:
- National Religious Broadcasters
- Family Research Council
- Intercessors for America
- Liberty Counsel
- Eagle Forum
- Priests for Life
- Family Policy Alliance
- Faith Wins
- The Bible Literacy Project
- Paige Patterson’s Sandy Creek Foundation
- Bishop E.W. Jackson’s STAND Foundation, Inc.
- Star Parker’s Center for Urban Renewal and Education.
Key conservative signers include:
- Council for National Policy
- American Legislative Exchange Council
- Tea Party Patriots Citizen Fund
- Citizens United
- The Leadership Institute
- Club for Growth
- Americans for Tax Reform.
Viguerie, who was inspired by the controversial Communist-hunting Sen. Joseph McCarthy, worked for anti-Communist evangelist Billy James Hargis, worked on the presidential campaigns of Barry Goldwater and George Wallace, and was among the conservative leaders who helped Jerry Falwell establish the Moral Majority.
Russell Vought (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)
“OMB Director Vought has outlined a plan to use all tools at the administration’s disposal to cut spending, including pocket rescissions, which would result in billions of savings to the taxpayers,” says the statement.
Vought is a 1998 graduate of evangelical Wheaton College, which created a stir when it congratulated Vought for being named budget director, dividing alumni who support him from those who condemn him for his “marginalization of the vulnerable.”
Critics say the domestic cuts Vought has championed will harm children, the poor, pregnant women and rural people who depend on access to medical care. Critics say the Trump administration’s cuts to foreign aid already have resulted in deaths overseas.
A July 24 Gallup poll shows a majority of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy (only 37% approve) and the federal budget (only 29% approve).
The administration’s efforts to claw back approved funding, as well as other moves, have spawned numerous lawsuits.
The online outlet Just Security was tracking 372 lawsuits as of Aug. 8. Just Security is based at the Reiss Center on Law and Security at New York University School of Law.
Viguerie describes ConservativeHQ.com as “the home for grassroots conservatives leading the battle to educate and mobilize family, friends, neighbors, and others to defeat the anti-God, anti-America, socialist New Democrats.”
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