Panels postpone vote on Neera Tanden, Biden’s controversial pick for budget chief
Neera Tanden, President Joe Biden’s nominee to head the White House Office of Management and Budget, as her nomination faced headwinds on Capitol Hill.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and the Senate Budget Committee were set to vote on her nomination Wednesday ahead of a full Senate floor vote,but both panels postponed the vote.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who chairs the Senate Budget Committee, has been noncommittal on Tanden’s nomination. Sanders, who’s been at odds with Tanden over the years, met with her yesterday evening, a person with knowledge of the meeting but not authorized to speak publicly told USA TODAY.
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Senators needed more time as they considered Tanden’s nomination amid bipartisan conversations between lawmakers, according to a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee aide not authorized to speak on the record. The aide noted they’d work to ”find the best path forward.” The panel’s top Republican, Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, came out against Tanden’s nomination earlier this week.
White House press secretary Jennifer Psaki tweeted in support of Tanden on Wednesday morning, praising her as a “leading policy expert who brings critical qualifications to the table during this time of unprecedented crisis.”
Tanden, the former head of the liberal Center for American Progress, has taken heat from both sides of the aisle for past social media posts criticizing lawmakers.
A key moderate, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., has announced he will not support Tanden’s nomination, meaning she needs to secure support from Republicans to win confirmation. But it’s unclear which Republicans might vote for Tanden, many of whom took offense to her older social media posts.
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