WATCH: Sen. Merkley questions OMB chief Vought about $2.2 trillion deficit in Trump budget hearing

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., questioned Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, about the nation’s deficit numbers in a hearing Thursday held by the Senate Budget Committee.

After pressing Vought on why he didn’t include information on the nation’s deficit, the OMB director said he believed it’s important to “not confuse the country.”

Merkley said the budget proposal’s projections, when examined closely, show a deficit of about $2.2 trillion in 2027.

“Perhaps the reason you didn’t want to include deficit numbers is you didn’t want to draw attention to [the fact that] we are not in a major recession, and you’re not including in this the cost of the war, so that’s not a factor, and yet we’re continuing to drive this nation deeper and deeper into debt,” Merkley said.

Vought, a key figure in the Trump administration's efforts to shrink the federal workforce, also defended the president's budget request in a House hearing Wednesday.

President Donald Trump's funding wish list for fiscal year 2027 includes a staggering bump for defense spending — a nearly 50% increase to $1.5 trillion — to build his "dream military."

The president's budget request is not final, but it does signal the Trump administration's priorities for the coming fiscal year. Though Trump has tried to exert more authority over spending in his second term, it's up to both chambers to revise and approve the final budget in the coming months.

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