Lankford Works to Fill OMB Director, OPM Inspector General Vacancies to Protect Taxpayers, Federal Employees

WASHINGTON, DC – Senator James Lankford (R-OK) today encouraged timely Senate confirmation of two important Executive Branch nominees following the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s (HSGAC) nomination hearing for Russell Vought to serve as Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Craig Leen to serve as the Inspector General (IG) for the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). The OPM IG position has been vacant for years, being served by deputies and others.

“Having a competent and hard-working Director at the helm of the Office of Management and Budget is vital as we continue to work to address our debt and deficit spending; Russ Vought is the right man for that job,” said Lankford. “I have met with Russ several times in his capacity as acting Director and am confident that we can continue to partner on solutions for some of the budget issues we face as a nation and address the challenges all federal employees face, especially in light of the additional challenges of the coronavirus pandemic. A strong partnership between OMB and Congress is the best way to ensure a stronger and more intentional budget and spending process each year. I look forward to his swift confirmation to this very important post.”

“Craig Leen will serve OPM well as the agency continues to work through the tremendous backlog of retirement benefits and other areas where the agency could be more efficient and effective in serving the federal workforce and our retirees,” said Lankford. “Craig is a dedicated professional who I believe will serve this post faithfully. I look forward to finally filling this vacancy to ensure we can assess areas of concern at OPM and address them in the days ahead.”

Lankford has worked closely with OMB throughout the years to assess the legislative solutions to address issues affecting taxpayers and their dollars, including his strongly bipartisan Taxpayers Right-to-Know Act, which passed the House unanimously earlier this year. Lankford is the chairman of the HSGAC Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management with oversight of the federal workforce. Additionally, in April Lankford joined Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) to send a letter to President Trump to fully utilize our important IGs to help protect taxpayers and their money.

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