Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has announced that the Senate will vote on the nomination of Jim Nussle to be the new Director of the Office of Management and Budget on Monday, September 4 - the first day back from the August recess. Reid announced there will be three hours of debate on the nomination beginning at 2:30 pm. One hour each for the chairman and ranking member of the budget committee, and one hour controlled by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Sanders has announced a hold on Nussle's nomination because he has serious concerns about the nominee and his philosophical differences with the administration's fiscal policies. Sanders said: President Bush is completely out of touch with the economic realities facing working families in America. Bush needs to hear the truth, not an echo. He needs a budget director who will make him face the facts, not fan his fantasies.

Earlier this afternoon, the Senate Budget Committee approved Jim Nussle's nomination to head OMB, 22-1. The lone dissenter was Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who announced that he had placed a hold on the nomination because President Bush is completely out of touch with the economic realities facing working families in America. Bush needs to hear the truth, not an echo. He needs a budget director who will make him face the facts, not fan his fantasies.

An OMBW Dialogue CRAIG: President Bush makes no sense, he's vetoing the Homeland Security spending bill, but not Military Construction (MilCon), the Ag bill, but not Financial Services for budget reasons. What's up with that? DANA: It looks random, but... wait, haven't his veto statements all said that he wants Congress to pass spending bills totaling not a penny over his $933 discretionary spending topline for FY 2008? CRAIG: Sure, but then why is he vetoing some bills where Congress' 302(b) allocations for FY 2008 exceed his February budget request -- but not others?

The Heritage Foundation just put out a report on the fiscal responsibility-ness of the Senate's SCHIP bill. It's stupid, but it begins with the fair point that the legislation would sunset, in 2013, the funding increases it would set up.