Scott Powers
Florida U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson has placed a hold on a nominee from President Donald Trump for the Office of Management and Budget and said straight out that he’s doing so to force the president’s hand on delivering Hurricane Irma relief money for Florida’s citrus industry.
Nelson’s office announced Thursday that he has placed a U.S. Senate hold on Russell Vought, Trump’s nominee to be OMB deputy director.
A hold is one of those arcane U.S. Senate procedures; it allows a senator to prevent something or someone from going to the floor for consideration, a demand essentially backed by the threat of a filibuster.
Nelson’s office said in a press release that the hold on Vought’s confirmation is a direct response to Trump’s denial of attempts by Nelson and others to add additional money to Florida’s disaster relief package being considered in the U.S. Senate today for the state’s devastated citrus industry.
Reports Thursday indicated that Trump called key senators telling them to pass the bill without the amendment Nelson was working on to provide money for the citrus industry.
Florida’s Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio also has requested more relief package money for the citrus industry.
Reports have indicated that as much as 75 percent of Florida’s citrus crops were damaged by Hurricane Irma.
“I’m disappointed that the president has nixed the disaster money for Florida’s citrus growers. He said it will be included in a November supplemental instead. So I just put a hold on one of his nominees to make sure we get this money, as promised,” Nelson stated in the news release.
