FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 3rd, 2025
Contact: HSGACPress_Paul@hsgac.senate.gov, (202) 224-4163
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R – KY), Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, convened a hearing to consider the nominations of Scott Kupor to be Director, Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and Eric M. Ueland to be Deputy Director for Management, Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The committee will hold a business meeting to vote on these nominations on April 9th, 2025.
During his opening remarks, Dr. Paul highlighted the importance of both positions.“These are two critical positions at the heart of how our federal government operates—from hiring policy and benefits administration to performance metrics and the size and scope of our civil service,” and Dr. Paul also emphasized that “The federal workforce has ballooned beyond 2 million civilian employees, many of whom remain shielded from accountability by a system that resists reform and tolerates mediocrity.”
During his opening remarks, Dr. Paul pointed to recent failures at the IRS and CDC as proof that simply throwing more money at broken agencies doesn’t work. “Washington’s default answer has been to grow the bureaucracy—more funding, bigger payrolls, and less accountability. But you don’t fix a broken machine by adding more broken parts.”
Senator Paul expressed support for both nominees, noting their potential to help advance President Trump’s goal of reducing the size of the federal government and restoring accountability to the agencies that serve the American people.
View the Chairman’s opening statement HERE.
Opening remarks as prepared below:
Today, the Committee meets to consider two critical nominations: Scott Kupor to be Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and Eric Ueland to be Deputy Director for Management at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
These two positions are quite important to the functioning of our federal government. Together, they steer hiring policy, benefits administration, performance metrics, and the size and scope of the civil service itself.
The federal workforce has ballooned to over 2 million civilian employees, not including contractors, grantees, or uniformed military. That means hundreds of thousands of bureaucrats writing rules, managing programs, and, often, dodging accountability—sheltered by a system that protects performance mediocrity and resists reform.
Over the past few years, we’ve seen agencies like the IRS and CDC fail the American people in real time. And yet, what was Washington’s answer? More funding. Bigger payrolls. And less accountability.
It’s not just bad policy—it’s a complete misreading of the problem. You don’t fix a broken machine by adding more broken parts. That’s why this hearing matters.
Together I believe Mr. Ueland and Mr. Kupor will help achieve President Trump’s goal of reducing federal bureaucracy and ensuring agencies are accountable to the taxpayers they serve. I look forward to supporting both of their nominations.
I now yield to the Ranking Member for his opening statement.
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