Neera Tanden, President Joe Biden’s nominee for Director of Administration and Budget (OMB), testifies during a Senate committee about the budget hearing on Capitol Hill, Washington on February 10, 2021.
Andrew Harnik | Pool | Reuters
Democratic Senator Joe Manchin will vote against Neera Tanden’s nomination as Head of Administration and Budget and threaten her confirmation of an important administrative post in Biden.
If a Republican doesn’t support Tanden, Manchin’s opposition would sink their approval into a Senate divided 50-50 by the party. In a statement to NBC News on Friday, the West Virginia senator cited Tandens’ tweets impaling seated senators across the political spectrum.
“I believe their openly partisan statements will have a toxic and detrimental impact on the vital working relationship between members of Congress and the next director of the Bureau of Administration and Budget,” said Manchin, a conservative Democrat who has already broken Biden with a coronavirus has assistance problems. “For this reason I cannot support your nomination.”
If it doesn’t get enough support, Tanden is the Biden government’s first choice to fail to win Senate approval. No Republicans have yet said they would vote for them. President Joe Biden’s election of Tanden sparked more backlash than any of his other decisions for jobs in the executive branch.
Tanden, president of the left-wing think tank Center for American Progress and advisor to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, was harassed in the Senate earlier this month for criticizing lawmakers. Senator Rob Portman, R-Ohio, pointed out tweets comparing Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., To Harry Potter villain Voldemort, saying “Vampires have more hearts” than GOP- Senator Ted Cruz from Texas.
Senator Bernie Sanders also noted Tanden’s story of “vicious attacks” against progressives and the independent Vermont senator. Clinton’s allies and the Center for American Progress grappled with Sanders over disputes over the party’s future during the 2016 Democratic presidential primary.
Tanden apologized to the senators during their confirmation hearings this month.
“I deeply regret and apologize for my language and some of my previous languages,” she said.
Tanden reportedly deleted more than 1,000 tweets before her verification process began.
The OMB director assists in the planning and implementation of the federal budget and executive programs. Tanden, a daughter of Indian immigrants, would be the first black woman to hold the post if confirmed.
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