Budget nominee Tanden withdraws nomination amid opposition
WASHINGTON β President Joe Biden's pick to head the Office of Management and Budget, Neera Tanden, has withdrawn her nomination after she faced opposition from key Democratic and Republican senators for her controversial tweets.
Her withdrawal marks the first high-profile defeat of one of Biden's nominees. Eleven of the 23 Cabinet nominees requiring Senate approval have been confirmed, most with strong bipartisan support.
βUnfortunately, it now seems clear that there is no path forward to gain confirmation, and I do not want continued consideration of my nomination to be a distraction from your other priorities,β Tanden wrote in a letter to Biden. The president, in a statement, said he has βutmost respect for her record of accomplishment, her experience and her counselβ and pledged to find her another role in his administration.
Tandenβs viability was in doubt after Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin and a number of moderate Republicans came out against her last month, all citing her tweets attacking members of both parties prior to her nomination.
Manchin, a key moderate swing vote in the Senate, said last month in a statement announcing his opposition that βher overtly 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 Budget.β Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins, meanwhile, cited Bidenβs own standard of conduct in opposing Tanden, declaring in a statement that βher past actions have demonstrated exactly the kind of animosity that President Biden has pledged to transcend.β
Tanden needed just 51 votes in an evenly-divided Senate, with Vice-President Kamala Harris acting as a tiebreaker. But without Manchinβs support, the White House was left scrambling to find a Republican to support her.
One potential Republican vote, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, told reporters earlier Tuesday on Capitol Hill she still had not yet made up her mind on Tandenβs nomination.
The White House stuck with her even after a number of centrist Republicans made their opposition known, insisting her experience growing up on welfare and background working on progressive policies as the president and CEO of the liberal-leaning Center for American Progress made her the right candidate for the moment. White House chief of staff Ron Klain initially insisted the administration was βfighting our guts outβ for her.
Tanden faced pointed questions over her past comments about members from both parties during her confirmation hearing. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent and prominent progressive lawmaker, accused her of issuing βvicious attacksβ against progressives, and hadnβt said whether heβd support her nomination.
Tanden apologized during that hearing to βpeople on either the left or right who are hurt by what Iβve said.β Just prior to the hearing, she deleted hundreds of tweets, many of which were critical of Republicans.
Collins cited those deleted tweets in her statement, saying that the move βraises concerns about her commitment to transparency.β She said Congress βhas to be able to trust the OMB director to make countless decisions in an impartial manner, carrying out the letter of the law and congressional intent.β
As recently as Monday, the White House indicated it was sticking by Tandenβs nomination, with press secretary Jen Psaki noting Tanden's βdecades of experienceβ in defending their pick.
βWe will continue of course to fight for the confirmation of every nominee that the president puts forward,β Psaki insisted, but she added, βWe'll see if we have 50 votes.β
The head of the Office of Management and Budget is tasked with putting together the administration's budget, as well as overseeing a wide range of logistical and regulatory issues across the federal government.
Tanden's withdrawal leaves the Biden administration without a clear replacement. The apparent front-runner on Capitol Hill to replace Tanden was Shalanda Young, a former staff director for the House Appropriations Committee who has been actively pushed by members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Other names mentioned include Ann OβLeary, a former chief of staff for California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and Gene Sperling, who served as a top economic adviser to both Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.
Alexandra Jaffe, The Associated Press