Dan Bishop, Democrats spar over 2020 election and whether president can block funding

Former Rep. Dan Bishop was accused of picking and choosing which parts of the Constitution he would follow Wednesday morning, in a hearing where he also confirmed he believed the 2020 election was rigged.

Bishop, a Republican from Waxhaw, sat before the Senate Committee on the Budget regarding his nomination by President Donald Trump to be deputy director of budget in the Office of Management and Budget, under Director Russell Vought.

As he testified before a Senate committee for the second time in two weeks, the top Democrat on the panel, Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, warned Bishop that Bishop’s job is to follow the law and not the whims of Trump or his team.

“I hope … when you have a moment you go, ‘Hmm, am I going to take an oath to President Trump or Russell (Vought), both, or am I going to follow the Constitution,’” Merkley said. “Because that is the challenge of you, as a public servant in our republic: you have to take an oath to the Constitution and not an individual.”

Bishop testified for nearly two hours about why he deserves to help lead the federal agency that oversees the country’s budget. And he faced pointed questions about his loyalty to Trump, Vought, the Constitution and whether he thought the 2020 election was rigged.

“I join Director Vought in his views on that question,” Bishop said. “He said the election was rigged and I join that.”

Following the law

Democrats also seized on a response Bishop gave in testimony last week when he was asked whether he would follow the law or Trump. Bishop said he would not be the one making legal decisions at OMB.

This time, Sen. John Kennedy, a Republican from Louisiana, asked Bishop point blank: “You going to follow the law?”

“Absolutely,” Bishop said.

“You going to defy court orders?”

“No,” Bishop said.

But moments later, Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington, asked Bishop if he would follow the law when it came to appropriations bills.

“I said, in response to several senators here today, President Trump expressed his view that impoundment is within the power of the presidency,” Bishop responded.

Throughout the hearing there was debate between Bishop, Republicans and Democrats about the rules set out by the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, which says that a president can request Congress revoke funding of a program if the president feels that program is not needed.

Bishop was reminded that he wrote a letter accusing former President Joe Biden of violating that law when he refused to use money set aside to build a wall at the southern border. Bishop said he’s studied the law further and has updated his views on what a president can do.

Murray told Bishop that the Supreme Court ruled that a president can’t unilaterally impound funding.

“You just don’t agree with that law,” she asked.

She then accused Bishop of picking and choosing what laws he believes in.

Bishop shot back that the law directs senators to pass a budget yearly, but they don’t follow that directive either.

Bishop also testified about his support of the Department of Government Efficiency.

“I think it’s an absolutely outstanding effort,” Bishop said. “I think the president made clear what he wanted to do, with Elon Musk’s contribution to the effort, is changing the status quo.”

Following Bishop’s testimony, the committee will need to decide whether to move his nomination forward. The committee has not yet scheduled a meeting for that.

It’s likely that the committee, with its majority of Republicans, will approve Bishop’s nomination along party lines, and then it will go to the full body of senators for final approval.