The Senate committee responsible for confirming Neera Tanden to lead the Office of Management and Budget postponed a hearing to vote on President Biden’s nominee on Wednesday as members of both parties have come out in opposition due to her past comments attacking lawmakers.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee postponed the meeting as Tanden’s nomination teeters on collapse.
Despite Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) announcing that he would oppose the nomination in the 50-50 divided Senate, the White House continued to stand by her.
Early Wednesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki reiterated that support in a series of tweets.
”Neera Tanden is a leading policy expert who brings critical qualifications to the table during this time of unprecedented crisis,” Psaki posted.
“She also has important perspective and values, understanding firsthand the powerful difference policy can make in the lives of those going through hard times,” she continued.
Joe Biden’s nominee for Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), testifies during a Senate Committee on the Budget hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Feb. 10, 2021. AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool“She has a broad spectrum of support, ranging from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to labor unions, and has a strong record of working with both parties that we expect to grow in President Biden’s cabinet as the first South Asian woman to lead OMB,” Psaki added.
Republican Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah and Susan Collins of Maine also oppose her nomination.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) speaks as they arrive to vote in the U.S. Capitol on February 23, 2021, in Washington, DC. The Senate held confirmation hearings today for multiple Biden administration nominees on Feb. 23, 2021. Al Drago/Getty Images“Senator Romney has been critical of extreme rhetoric from prior nominees, and this is consistent with that position,” a spokeswoman for Romney said, “He believes it’s hard to return to comity and respect with a nominee who has issued a thousand mean tweets.”
Collins said Tanden lacks the “temperament to lead this critical agency.”
Senator Mitt Romney questions Xavier Becerra, secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) nominee for US President Joe Biden, during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, DC, on Feb. 23, 2021. SARAH SILBIGER/AFP via Getty Images“Her past actions have demonstrated exactly the kind of animosity that President Biden has pledged to transcend,” she said.
Tanden appears to have deleted over 1,000 tweets since Nov. 1, after posts targeting lawmakers whose vote she will need for confirmation resurfaced.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks during the confirmation hearing for Neera Tanden, nominee for Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), before the Senate Budget Committee on Feb. 10, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. Anna Moneymaker-Pool/Getty ImagesTanden, a longtime Hillary Clinton adviser and president of the Center for American Progress, is an avid tweeter. She has used the platform to issue bombastic criticisms of lawmakers — as well as voters — who identify to her right and left.
The tweets, some deleted and some still live, reference GOP lawmakers by name, tagging them, and blasting them for supporting President Trump — or in some cases, attacking them personally.
