The Senate Democrats are still concerned about erosion of congress power

February 6 – Sens. Ben Ray Luján and Martin Heinrich from New Mexico went to the Senate floor on Thursday with their Democratic colleagues to delay the confirmation vote by Russell Vought, a project 2025 co-author who led the Office of Management and Budget under Trump’s first presidency. Vought was confirmed with a vote of 53-47 on Thursday night.

“Mr. Vought wants the chance to tackle two key economic issues – cutting burdensome government rules and tackle excessive expenses,” said Republican Senate’s majority leader John Thune on the Senate floor on Wednesday.

Last week, Trump’s budget office issued a memo instruction agencies to freeze already approved federal funding so it could be evaluated to see if it adapted ideologically with Trump’s goal. Congress is traditionally and constitutionally dictated federal expenses.

A number of agencies and nonprofit organizations were then unable to access federal funds. The memo was lifted, but the executive order it was intended to explain has not been, and some units in New Mexico still cannot access federal funds, including for several drinking water pipeline projects, according to Luján.

“If the intention was to create chaos, they create chaos by creating all these issues and uncertainty,” Luján said.

Heinrich said on the Senate floor that new Mexicans have come with concern about losing job -serving jobs, fears that the Department of Education could be dismantled and cares about instability in the federal government and asks him to oppose Vought’s confirmation.

Meanwhile, environmental advocacy groups raised concerns this week about guard formulated executive orders that new domestic secretary Doug Burgum signed, including one that encourages energy exploration and production on federal soil and waters withdrawn from oil production or mining. The order authorizes a 15-day review of countries withdrawn from fossil fuel and mining development.

Environmental lawyer groups say the order is targeted at national monument boundaries.

“Secretary Burgum’s executive order that threatens national monuments with mining and drilling represents a reckless attack on New Mexico’s protected public countries,” Mark Allison, CEO of New Mexico Wild, said in a statement. “The rushed 15-day review process completely disregards the careful management that these sacred spaces deserve.”