Russell Vought Confirmation Vote Is a Rejection of Bernie Sanders’ Religious Test

Wednesday afternoon, Vice President Mike Pence cast a tie-breaking vote to confirm Russell Vought, the Trump administration’s nominee for deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget. Vought’s nomination drew national attention after Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) deemed Vought unfit for public service due to his Christian belief that salvation is found through Jesus Christ alone. In response to Senator Sanders’ religious bigotry, Family Research Council (FRC) launched a petition signed by more than 55,000 Americans calling on Senator Sanders to apologize for his unconstitutional religious test and urged the U.S. Senate to reject the religious test.

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement on today’s confirmation:

“It was a shocking moment to watch a United States Senator declare that holding to a central tenet of Christianity that Jesus is the only way of salvation is enough to render a well-qualified nominee unfit for public service.  Vought’s biblical view of salvation is no different than what Billy Graham preached for more than six decades.

“Thankfully, 49 senators and Vice President Pence in his tie-breaking vote sent a message that public servants can express their biblical views on salvation without fear of being held to an unconstitutional religious test.

“The thought that Sanders is a senator who almost won the Democratic Party’s nomination for president—a man who thinks there’s no room in the public square for people who believe the Bible—is a chilling one.

“I congratulate Russell Vought and thank President Trump and Vice President Pence for standing up for the freedom of every American to believe and live out those beliefs in the public square,” Perkins concluded.