'Step In And Take Charge': Ashley Moody Urges OPM Director Nominee To Cut Government Spending

4/4/2025

During Thursday's Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing, Sen. Ashley Moody (R-FL) asked Scott Kupor, the Director of Office of Personnel Management nominee, if he would follow President Trump's directive to cut national spending.

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Transcript

00:00Chairman, you were very measured in that response.

00:04I would say absolutely, this last administration was walking out the door, some of the people

00:08they promoted and the money that they spent should absolutely be reviewed and reconsidered.

00:13You were very measured and I respect that.

00:15I want to first thank you for being here and thank you for using your gifts and talents

00:21and expertise and volunteering to serve your country.

00:25Probably doesn't pay as well as you might make on the outside world and I really respect

00:29people that do that, so thank you.

00:31And I also say thank you to your family, some of them I've been getting to know better.

00:35I have found over the course of my career, especially during transitions to new roles,

00:40it's harder on the families than it is those of us going through the career transition

00:44and so I appreciate you supporting them.

00:46Being there, being here with them today, I know it means a lot to them and certainly

00:52we thank you for supporting them through this.

00:54I happen to think, and this might be, I'm only two months in, but I have seen a lot

01:01of confirmation hearings over my first two months and I happen to think that this specific

01:06hearing is one of the most important that we will conduct and a lot of people don't

01:13know a lot about the Office of Personnel and Management and the Office of Management and

01:19Budget.

01:20I think right now at this moment in time in our nation's history and with this kind of

01:24leader at the helm like President Trump, these are probably two of the most important

01:28positions in this administration.

01:31And I say that because when President Trump was elected, he said, I am going to address

01:38the sprawling federal government, the wasteful spending, and indeed the results showed this

01:47administration was given a mandate to examine this unelected federal bureaucracy that has

01:58ballooned over the decades and return it to being accountable to those elected by the

02:06people and ultimately to we the people.

02:10And you're coming in at a time where you have a leader that is willing to be brave enough

02:14to make the really hard decisions and be bold about that up front and say, you know,

02:21in many respects, probably a good idea as I mentioned earlier, but in some, these are

02:26going to be some tough choices on spending and policy, but we've got to make them.

02:31I mean, at some point, some leader is going to be in the position where they're going

02:35to have to say, some president is going to have to say, enough is enough.

02:38We've got to do something.

02:39It's not right for the future of this country and our children and grandchildren not to

02:44do something and step up.

02:45And now you're coming in at a time where you're expected not only to bring your expertise

02:50and experience to these roles, but I believe one of the reasons President Trump has put

02:55together such a great team, the things that he's looking for is not just expertise in

02:58the role, but a very crucial trait is the ability to communicate the importance of the

03:05actions that are being taken to the American people.

03:09Because rightfully so, in any time of transition and change, if the public doesn't understand

03:14how we got here or what's going on, I happen to think as things are coming out, Americans

03:20are like, what do you mean we spend our hard-earned tax money on this woke and wasteful nonsensical

03:26program that totally conflicts not only with my own values, but American values and interests?

03:33I think they're shocked in many respects.

03:35I also think they're shocked in many respects how fiscally irresponsible we have been and

03:40now we find ourselves and we've got to have people step in and take charge for the sake

03:45of this country.

03:46So coming into these roles, and I'll start with you, Mr. Kapoor, how do you expect you

03:53will be able to take on that role of communicating transparently and responsibly in a way that

04:00understands the American public's anxiety with going through a necessary re-evaluation

04:07of American priorities and spending?

04:08Well, thank you, Senator, and I think you and I discussed this.

04:11Look, I believe communication is absolutely critical here, having unfortunately in my

04:15private sector career been through many types of restructurings.

04:19When you do things where you don't communicate the narrative and help people understand not

04:23just what we're doing, but also why we're doing it, what the implications are, quite

04:27frankly people create their own narratives and unfortunately that often does bring them

04:30to very dark places.

04:31And so I think one of the things that I hope to do through OPM is for us to be a leader

04:35in talking about what we're doing, why we're doing it, and again, I think we can take the

04:39very hard actions that you're talking about, but also respect the fact that we are talking

04:42about people's jobs here and we have to be respectful of that.

04:45But I don't think we should confuse that with the requirement to actually bring people along

04:49and help them understand exactly why we're doing what we're doing.

04:53Mr. Ueland?

04:54Absolutely.

04:55I associate myself with both Mr. Cooper's comments and one of the things that Senator

04:59Nichols didn't mention is part of my experience up here in the Senate and in Congress was

05:05on the communications side.

05:07And the need for clarity of message, purposefulness of advocacy, explanation, as I talked about,

05:14to the committee, to Congress, to the workforce, to the general public, is something that seizes

05:18me and if I am confirmed, will be something that will be part of the work that I do as

05:24the Deputy Director for Management.

05:26Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

05:27Senator?

'Step In And Take Charge': Ashley Moody Urges OPM Director Nominee To Cut Government Spending

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