WASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed Russell Vought as White House budget director on Thursday night, putting an official who has planned the zealous expansion of President Donald Trump's power into one of the most influential positions in the federal government.

Democrats fought the OMB nominee's confirmation, elevating a little-known agency head to the national spotlight amid larger anxieties about the fate of congressional spending authority.

Vought's return to the White House Office of Management and Budget, which he also helmed during Trump's first term, would put him in a role that often goes under the public radar