Trump makes it official: SC’s Mulvaney will be budget director
U.S. Rep. Mick Mulvaney Saturday officially became the second S.C. Republican tapped to join President-elect Donald Trump’s White House inner circle, as he was nominated as director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Mulvaney joins Gov. Nikki Haley, who is Trump’s nominee for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, as a nominee for an influential position that is considered to be just outside the official presidential cabinet.
If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Mulvaney’s appointment also will set off a special election to fill the 5th District congressional seat, which includes Camden, Sumter and stretches north through Rock Hill to the N.C. border. In November, Mulvaney won re-election to a fourth term representing the Republican district, defeating Democrat Fran Person, a former aide to Vice President Joe Biden, by 20 percentage points.
The news of Mulvaney’s pending nomination was reported Friday in The State, and the Trump transition team made it official Saturday morning.
“Mulvaney brings a wealth of experience on economic, budgetary and fiscal issues to his new role,” the transition said in a statement, calling the Indiand Land congressman “a strong voice in Congress for reining in out-of-control spending, fighting government waste and enacting tax policies that will allow working Americans to thrive.”
The statement quoted President-elect Trump as saying, “We are going to do great things for the American people with Mick Mulvaney leading the Office of Management and Budget. Right now, we are nearly $20 trillion in debt, but Mick is a very high-energy leader with deep convictions for how to responsibly manage our nation’s finances and save our country from drowning in red ink.”
The release quoted Mulvaney as calling the nomination “a great honor.”
“The Trump Administration will restore budgetary and fiscal sanity back in Washington after eight years of an out-of-control, tax-and-spend financial agenda, and will work with Congress to create policies that will be friendly to American workers and businesses,” Mulvaney said in the statement. “Each day, families across our nation make disciplined choices about how to spend their hard earned money, and the federal government should exercise the same discretion that hardworking Americans do every day.”
Top S.C. Republicans were quick to praise Mulvaney’s nomination.
“Mick is a great choice for OMB director,” U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-Seneca, said on Twitter.
“I’ve often described him as ‘young Paul Ryan’ when it comes to all things budget-related,” Graham said, referring to the Republican House speaker. “He’s done his homework when it comes to the federal budget and will hit the ground running in this very important job.”
"We entered Congress together in 2011, and I am certain he will tackle his new position with the same passion he has represented the 5th District with over the past six years,” U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-Charleston, said in a statement. “Facing a $20 trillion debt, we need someone committed to restoring fiscal sanity in Washington, and I am confident Mick will work to do so.”
Democrats were more critical.
S.C. Democratic Party chair Jaime Harrison urged the GOP-controlled U.S. Senate to reject Mulvaney’s nomination, a long shot at best.
“Mick Mulvaney has devoted his congressional career to pushing tax cuts for the rich while leaving Medicare to the whims of the insurance companies and Social Security to the whims of the stock market,” Harrison said in a statement.
This story was originally published December 17, 2016 at 1:24 PM with the headline "Trump makes it official: SC’s Mulvaney will be budget director."