Neera Tanden, nominated by President Joe Biden to head the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), testified during a Senate committee on the budget hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on February 10, 2021.
Andrew Harnik | Swimming pool | Reuters
Senator Joe Manchin will vote against the nomination of Neera Tanden to head the Office of Management and Budget, jeopardizing his confirmation to a key position in the Biden administration.
Unless a Republican supports Tanden, Democrat Manchin’s opposition would sink his confirmation in a Senate divided 50 to 50 per party. In a statement to NBC News on Friday, the West Virginia senator cited Tanden’s tweets that skewed seated senators across the political spectrum.
“I believe his openly partisan statements will have a toxic and detrimental impact on the important working relationship between members of Congress and the next director of the Office of Management and Budgets,” Manchin, a Conservative Democrat who has already rejected Biden with some coronavirus relief issues, he said. “For this reason, I cannot support his nomination.”
If it does not get enough support, Tanden would be the first choice of the Biden administration not to get Senate confirmation. No Republican has said he would vote for her yet. Tiden’s election of Biden provoked more reactions than any of his other options for executive jobs.
Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress left-wing think tank and advisor to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, faced the grill in the Senate earlier this month for her criticism of lawmakers. Sen. Rob Portman of R-Ohio noted the tweets comparing Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell to villain “Harry Potter” Voldemort, and said “vampires have more heart” than Republican Party Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.
Senator Bernie Sanders also pointed to the story of Tanden’s “vicious attacks” on progressives and the independent senator from Vermont himself. Clinton’s allies and the Center for American Progress clashed with Sanders during the 2016 Democratic presidential primary amid disputes over the party’s future.
Tanden apologized to senators during their confirmation hearings this month.
“I deeply regret and apologize for my language and some of my past languages,” he said.
According to reports, Tanden deleted more than 1,000 tweets before its confirmation process began.
The OMB director helps plan and carry out the federal budget and executive programs. Tanden, the daughter of Indian immigrants, would be the first woman of color to hold the post if confirmed.
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