WASHINGTON — Democrats voiced concerns about whether former U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop would uphold the Constitution after hearing his testimony for why he should serve as deputy director of budget for the Office of Management and Budget.

On Wednesday, senators confirmed his nomination, 53-45, along party lines with Democrats opposed.

Bishop, 60, a Republican from Waxhaw, is a lawyer who previously served in the state Legislature and on the Mecklenburg County board of commissioners. He will now serve under OMB Director Russ Vought, a self-described Christian nationalist who played a major role in creating Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for a second Trump administration, and who has worked on policy for the Republican National Committee and House Republicans

President Donald Trump nominated both men to lead the agency, created in 1970 by President Richard Nixon. The role of OMB is to help presidents meet policy, budget management and regulatory objectives, according to the White House’s website.

In his nomination, Trump said Bishop “has been a tireless fighter for our MAGA movement in the House of Representatives on the Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees.”

Bishop served in the U.S. House from September 2019 until the end of 2024, after an unsuccessful run for state attorney general. In Congress, Bishop made a name for himself as a firebrand and member of the ultra-right House Freedom Caucus that caused gridlock throughout his last term.

“Dan will implement my cost-cutting and deregulatory agenda across all Agencies, and root out the Weaponized Deep State,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Bishop faced two Senate committees prior to a vote by the entire body.

Sen. Ted Budd, a Republican from Davie County, introduced Bishop to both committees.

In the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Bishop drew concerns from the minority party when he would not directly answer whether he would follow the law or the orders of Trump if Trump asked him to do something unlawful.

“I’m confident that President Trump will issue lawful orders,” Bishop responded. “It would not be up to me, serving in a non-lawyer capacity, to decide what is lawful and not lawful.”

Bishop also would not answer whether Trump could decide to use money differently than how Congress appropriated it.

The committee’s top Democrat, Gary Peters, of Michigan, said he had “concerns” about whether Bishop would carry out the laws Congress set and his positions on federal workers.

The Senate Committee on Budget’s top Democrat, Sen. Jeff Merkley, told Republicans before their vote to approve Bishop’s nomination he shared those concerns.

When Bishop testified before the budget committee he said unequivocally he would follow the law, but moments later, told Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington, that he believed the president had the ability to block funding set by Congress, without congressional approval.

A president is allowed to petition Congress to change a monetary allocation it made, but he or she cannot unilaterally decide to ignore appropriations set by Congress.

“I’m troubled,” Merkley said. “Many of my colleagues are troubled by this viewpoint. And our view is, law is not a suggestion and the president is not a king.”

In both committees, Republicans, who control the Senate, had more members than Democrats, and Republicans were able to push Bishop’s nomination through.

Bishop wasn’t confirmed to the position until Wednesday, when all senators took a vote. However, Bishop has already been working in OMB.

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