The White House said that it is “fighting” for Neera Tanden’s confirmation.
Confirmation vote of President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Office of Management and Budget Neera Tanden was delayed. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and the Senate Budget Committee postponed votes on Tanden’s confirmation scheduled for Wednesday.
According to media reports, the postponement has created further speculations that the White House is struggling to get the necessary votes for Tanden’s confirmation. As we have reported earlier, Tanden faced severe criticism from the Republicans due to her past posts on Twitter against several Republicans. Democrat Joe Manchin had stated that he wouldn’t be supporting her. Also, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell is urging all of the chamber’s GOP members to vote against her nomination.
During a news briefing on Wednesday White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said: “We’re fighting for the nomination, and she [Tanden] and our team remain in close contact with senators and key constituency groups. She is an expert whose qualifications are critical during this time of an unprecedented crisis.” When questioned if the White House is looking for options, Psaki said that there is one nominee to head the budget department and “her name is Neera Tanden and that’s who we’re continuing to fight for.”
Psaki said that Tanden is a leading policy expert who has “a broad spectrum of support, ranging from the US 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.”
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