Tanden Could Be First Biden Nominee to Fail

2 moderate Republicans say they won't vote for her
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 22, 2021 2:14 PM CST
Tanden Could Be First Biden Nominee to Fail
In this Feb. 10, 2021 photo, Neera Tanden, testifies during a Senate Committee on the Budget hearing.   (Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times via AP, Pool, File)

In November, GOP Sen. John Cornyn said there was "zero chance" that Neera Tanden, President Biden's nominee for director of the Office of Management and Budget, would be confirmed. He may have been right. Moderate Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Mitt Romney said Monday that they would oppose Tanden, Politico reports. Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin said Friday that he will vote against her confirmation, meaning the nomination will fail if she can't get at least one Republican vote. All three senators cited Tanden's history of mean tweets, one of which described Collins as "the worst," reports the Guardian.

Manchin said he believed Tanden's "overtly partisan statements will have a toxic and detrimental impact on the important working relationship" between Congress and the office, which has a major role in overseeing agency budgets. Collins said Tanden's decision to delete more than 1,000 tweets after the election "raises concerns about her commitment to transparency," while a Romney spokesperson said it would be "hard to return to comity and respect with a nominee who has issued a thousand mean tweets." Tanden is now likely to be the first Biden nominee to fail, though the White House is standing by her. "Looking ahead to the committee votes this week and continuing to work toward her confirmation," White House press secretary Jen Psaki tweeted Monday. (More Neera Tanden stories.)

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