Neera Tanden Withdraws Nomination To Lead White House Budget Office
Neera Tanden, President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), has withdrawn her nomination as it appears Democrats do not have the votes to confirm her in the Senate.
In a letter to the president on Tuesday, Tanden said, “I am writing to you to withdraw my nomination for Director of the Office of Management and Budget. It has been an honor of a lifetime to be considered for this role and for the faith placed in me.”
“Unfortunately, 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,” she added.
In a statement, Biden said he accepted Tanden’s request to withdraw her nomination. He added, “I have the utmost respect for her record of accomplishment, her experience and her counsel, and I look forward to having her serve in a role in my Administration.”
Read the statement below:
BREAKING: President Biden has accepted Neera Tanden's request to withdraw her nomination to be Director of the Office of Management and Budget, White House says. https://t.co/0YqOOewtYp pic.twitter.com/LcNtXMnKbL
— NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) March 2, 2021
Democrats could have approved her confirmation if all 50-Democrats voted in favor as Vice President Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) can cast the tie-breaking vote.
However, senators raised concerns over a series of Tanden’s past tweets she sent attacking lawmakers.
Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) pressed her during her confirmation hearings on how she plans to “mend fences and build relationships with members of Congress you have attacked through your public statements.”
“I recognize the concern. I deeply regret and apologize for my language, some of my past language,” Tanden responded. “I recognize that this role is a bipartisan role, and I know I have to earn the trust of senators across the board. I will work very aggressively to meet that concern.”
Despite Tanden’s apology, her path to confirmation appeared to be in trouble after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W-Va.) announced that he would oppose her nomination — which meant at least one Republican would have to join the Democrats to approve her nomination.
Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), two critical potential votes, also said they would oppose her nomination.
Even as Tanden’s path to confirmation appeared to be in danger, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters, “There’s one nominee to lead the Budget department, her name’s Neera Tanden. And that’s who we’re continuing to fight for.”
“We’re focused on fighting for the person the president has nominated,” she added.
Tanden is the first of Biden’s nominees to fall short of a confirmation vote.
David Sirota lays out why Tanden is unsuitable to head the OMB.
theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/feb/26/what-the-neera-tanden-affair-reveals-about-the-washington-dc-swamp
“lawmakers raised concerns over a series of Tanden’s past tweets she sent attacking lawmakers” Article
THAT ISN’T THE PROBLEM WITH NEERA TANDEN! The problem was her conflicts of interests with her long history working with large corporations and foreign countries and their corrupting money! Get the story right.
Perhaps that is YOUR problem with Neera, BUT it isn’t the 50th confirmation vote of Senator Manchin’s issue. Here is Sen. Manchin’s statement: “Manchin said in a statement released by his office last Friday afternoon, in which he implied that Tanden’s innumerable tweets lambasting both conservatives and leftists over the years played the biggest role in his decision. “For this reason, I cannot support her nomination.” Neera tweeted about Manchin’s daughter. Neera commented on the significant raise award Heather Bresch when she was CEO at Mylan.
WHAT are these large corporations and foreign countries she worked? She worked in the Clinton White House, the Clinton Foundation, the Clinton and Obama campaigns, and Center for American Progress. She is a graduate of Yale Law, not Yale Business School.
From all your previous invocations of “corrupt” I am guessing that means money NOT intended to support Bernie. And “Yes” she was not ever a supporter of Bernie, M4A, or a national wide $15 minimum wage. In your world that qualifies her as “corrupt” but that would only apply in Bernie World.
The Center For American Progress is just a money pump for the Demcratic machine. Tanden would have been in an untenable position dealing with large amounts of money and ethics issues. That was a no-go from the start.
Just because the media and Senators aren’t focused publicly on more serious issues than a few mean words wouldn’t have made them go away. I hope that you realize that some day. That’s not my fault. I am just voicing my concerns over what would have been a very serious ethics and corruption problem.
This is what happens when good people resist corruption and try to do something about it. I expect to see more resistance during this term. I probably will post about it, too.
Next on the no-go list is Rahm Emanuel. Apparently, the administration want THIS toxic one back, too. Ugh.
Dear Lord, WHAT is your issue with Rahm Emanuel? You want an ambassador that is a push over?
I don’t have all night to write up his rap-sheet. I will let the Chicago Tribune sum him up for you. There is no need to reward such a person with ANY sort of appointment in this administration.
chicagotribune.com/politics/ct-met-cb-rahm-emanuel-accomplishments-controversies-20190515-story.html