(The Center Square) – Americans want accountability, transparency and an end to waste and the Washington status quo, former Congressman Dan Bishop said in his U.S. Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday morning.
Bishop, nominated for deputy director in the Office of Management and Budget by President Donald Trump, appeared before the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs led by Chairman Dr. Rand Paul, R-Ky. He was poised when questioned by Democrats, and well-received by Republicans on the panel.
Bishop and Troy Edgar, the nomination for deputy secretary of Homeland Security, appeared before the committee jointly and are expected to be considered on Thursday with the Republican majority likely to send their nomination to the Senate floor.
Bishop won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in a 2019 election do-over, was reelected in 2020 and 2022, and this past November lost to Democrat Jeff Jackson in the quest to be attorney general in North Carolina. The difference was just 159,549 votes of more than 5.5 million cast, with Bishop winning 76 of 100 counties and Jackson holding an upper hand in urban areas.
“Something I always noticed in Congress, when I was out meeting folks in North Carolina, is that the American people are way ahead of us in Washington,” Bishop told the committee. “They know what’s going on. They’re smart, resourceful, resilient and hardworking. They want accountability, transparency, and an end to the waste and the Washington status quo.”
Bishop said the federal debt is out of control. Paul, in opening remarks, also pointed to the $36 trillion debt load of the country.
“Our government has been self-absorbed, inefficient, unaccountable, and maladministered,” he said. “The good news is that we can fix all of those things, and if confirmed, I will be laser-focused on doing so, along with Director Russ Vought and the superb public servants at OMB.”
Vought was confirmed Feb. 6.
Bishop’s successor in the 8th Congressional District, the Rev. Mark Harris, on social media said Bishop is “a true and proven patriot” who will help advance “an America First agenda” with the “same vigor and dedication he had for the people” of his district.
House Speaker Mike Lee, R-La., wrote on social media, “A brilliant mind for the law, keen sense of leadership and deep understanding of the inner workings of government are qualities that make Dan Bishop the best candidate to be the deputy director of OMB. I encourage my colleagues to vote him out of committee and confirm him swiftly.”
About an hour in, an exchange by Michigan Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin on benefits in Social Security, Medicare, for veterans and money for the U.S. Postal Service led to Bishop being cut off multiple times as he attempted to answer. And, as her time was yielded back, led to Paul making some clarifications – and sharing his opinion with regard to Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency.
Asked by Slotkin if he “had the right to unilaterally take money out of Social Security,” Bishop responded, “Senator, I do not hesitate to say that I do not believe that the president can stop Social Security benefits being paid. I don’t think so. And the reason I say the president is not going to is because that’s what he has consistently declared. So I don’t think it’s an issue.”
As Slotkin finished, Paul dovetailed her point on fear – she mixed in a profanity and said firings by the Trump administration were “scaring the crap out of people on the benefits that they’ve worked their entire life for” – to point out, “No one in the Trump administration has advocated for taking Social Security money and using it for another purpose. So that’s a hypothetical that is not only untrue, it is promoting fear.”
Paul went on to clarify the postal service doesn’t have money but rather operates from a multi-million dollar hole every year. And he shared that he’s for the uncovering of waste by Musk, yet feels the huge hole of debt needs to be refilled before the American people are cut checks as has been suggested.
