Ricketts Questions OMB Nominee Russell Vought on Hidden Regulatory Costs, Need for Timely Issuance of Renewable Fuels Obligations
January 22, 2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE), a new member of the Senate Committee on the Budget, questioned Russell Vought, President Trump’s nominee to be Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Ricketts highlighted the hidden costs imposed on taxpayers by the Biden administration’s regulations.
“This hidden cost that we see on American households is also one of the reasons why Americans are worse off today than they were four years ago,” Ricketts said. “One of the examples of hiding some of these costs was actually in the EPA. With the tailpipe regulations, also known as the EV mandate. That was a 573-page document. And there was one table on costs. One table. And so what we see from this outgoing administration is they are hiding the costs from the American people so they don’t understand and don’t see what their government is trying to do to them, how their government is actually laying on these regulations that harm them. And that’s why they feel worse off today than they did four years ago.”
Ricketts asked Vought about the delays in Renewable Fuels Obligations (RVOs). Ricketts secured a commitment to help make sure that the federal government fulfills its obligations under the law and files RVOs in a timely manner.
“The Renewable Fuels Standard and the Renewable Volume Obligations, RVOs, are priorities for me and my state,” Ricketts said.“The 2026 RVOs were supposed to be filed November 1, 2024. And now it looks like it’s going to be December. I’m sure the folks who were in business in the past know that certainty is important for businesses. And we’re going to be over a year behind. Will you commit to working with me to help make sure that the bureaucracies are following the law and fulfilling their obligations? For example, in this case specifically, to get the RVOs out on a timely basis?”
“Yes, Senator,” Vought said.
Ricketts’ comments came in a hearing of the Committee on the Budget.
TRANSCRIPT:
Senator Ricketts: “Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
“My colleague next to me here from Louisiana has already referenced the federal spending. Roughly $4.4 trillion in 2019 and $6.8, $6.9 (trillion) in 2024. I think the budget, President Biden’s proposal was for $7 trillion. He referenced the 55% increase in just five years. We greatly expanded federal spending, recklessly expanded it, including a number of areas that the colleague, my colleague from Virginia, just was referencing. Areas were expanded, for example, during Covid and never brought back down to, say, 2019 levels. That reckless spending has led to 40-year high inflation. We’ve talked about that as well.
“And you, in your opening remarks, remarked how Americans are worse off today, four years later after Joe Biden, because of his reckless spending, contributed to this inflation. But that’s not the only thing that contributed to how Americans are being hurt by the policies of this Biden administration that just left.
“One of the other areas that they have been hurt by is the regulation. And you’ve mentioned some of the bureaucracy is out of control, throwing a man, a 77 year old, in prison for building ponds. But if you look over the last four years, the Biden administration put in over 100,000 pages of new regulation. 33 feet tall – taller than a three-story building with the regulations.
“One study said it would be adding $3,300 to the cost of every American household. This hidden cost that we see on American households is also one of the reasons why Americans are worse off today than they were four years ago.
“One of the examples of hiding some of these costs was actually in the EPA. With the tailpipe regulations, also known as the EV mandate. That was a 573-page document. And there was one table on costs, one table.
“And so what we see from this outgoing administration is they are hiding the costs from the American people so they don’t understand and don’t see what their government is trying to do to them, how their government is actually laying on these regulations that harm them. And that’s why they feel worse off today than they did four years ago.
“If you’re confirmed, will you commit that you will work with me to help reverse and expose the regulations and how agencies tried to hide the cost, tried to play around with the numbers?
“You may have heard the, the phrase ‘there’s lies, damn lies, and statistics.’ Right? We need to make sure that when we are passing regulations, that we have a full cost benefit analysis, that people understand the tradeoffs are making by having regulation.
“Will you, if you are confirmed, commit that you will work with us to be able to make sure that we fully understand the costs of this? and that these agencies will not try to hide the costs of the regulations?”
Mr. Vought: “Yes, absolutely. This is one of those fundamental apparatuses that we need to get back in place that we had in the first term. If confirmed, it will be one of the earliest projects that I’m a part of.”
Senator Ricketts: “Great, thank you very much, Mr. Vought. Also, I want to switch gears on you a little bit here as well. Because it’s also another example of how the bureaucracy is failing.
“As you know, biofuels are important to my state of Nebraska. We’re an agricultural state. Biofuels are a way for us to be able to help clean up the environment, reduce our reliance on foreign sources of energy, and it’s great for farmers and ranchers as well. It also helps consumers save money at the pump. The Renewable Fuels Standard and the Renewable Volume Obligations, RVOs, are priorities for me and my state. The 2026 RVOs were supposed to be filed November 1, 2024. And now it looks like it’s going to be December. I’m sure the folks who were in business in the past know that certainty is important for businesses. And we’re going to be over a year behind. Will you commit to working with me to help make sure that the bureaucracies are following the law and fulfilling their obligations? For example, in this case specifically, to get the RVOs out on a timely basis?”
Mr. Vought: “Yes, Senator.”
Senator Ricketts: “Great. And then one last area since I’m running out of time here real quick.
“We must tackle the national debt. It’s the biggest internal threat. We’ve kind of talked about it already. But the Chinese Communist Party is the biggest external threat we face as a nation. How will you ensure that we’re protecting federal dollars in the contracting process, to make sure that our adversaries and entities that are hostile to us like the Chinese Communist Party are not being subsidized by our American tax dollars? And how will you advise the administration on that?”
Mr. Vought: “Well, it’ll be a priority through our role in advising contractors and agencies that are engaged with them. In the first term, we had a lot of work that we were doing on behalf of the laws that were passed to make sure that Huawei was not a part of getting taxpayer contracts. And that will be a trend that we will continue. And we’ll be working with you on any new laws that are put forward and looking closely to the statutes that are already in place.”
Senator Ricketts: “Thank you, Mister Vought. I appreciate it. I’ve run over my time but you also have very cute daughters. I’m glad they’re here today. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.”