Neera Tanden's nomination to head White House budget office in peril as Collins, Romney say they will vote against her
WASHINGTON — The nomination of Neera Tanden to head the powerful Office of Management and Budget appears increasingly imperiled, with Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Mitt Romney and Utah, both Republicans, announcing on Monday morning that they would vote against the nominee.
The growing opposition has less to do with Tanden’s liberal outlook than her avid Twitter use. And it comes after a four-year debate about whether then-President Donald Trump’s tweets were to be treated as a distraction, provocation or his way of announcing policy.
Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a centrist Democrat, had earlier indicated that he too would vote against Tanden. Manchin also cited Tanden’s tweets as a major reason to vote against her.
Those developments leave little wiggle room in an evenly divided Senate and could make Tanden — who heads the liberal Center for American Progress and is a longtime Clinton ally — the first failed Biden Cabinet nomination.
At issue is Tanden’s storied legacy of incendiary tweets, which have frequently criticized and mocked Trump, congressional Republicans and progressives like Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. In doing so, her tweets have complicated the new administration’s stated goal of returning Washington to pre-Trumpian norms of civility.
“Sen. Romney has been critical of extreme rhetoric from prior nominees, and this is consistent with that position,” the senator’s press secretary, Arielle Mueller, told Yahoo News. “He believes it’s hard to return to comity and respect with a nominee who has issued a thousand mean tweets.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment, but earlier in the day, before Romney’s opposition was made known, White House press secretary Jen Psaki tweeted support for the nominee. Psaki called Tanden an “accomplished policy expert” and noted that she would be the first woman of Asian descent to head the influential budget office. She added that the White House would continue “to work toward her confirmation.”
In a chamber divided equally between Democrats and Republicans, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting tiebreaking votes, that work has become increasingly difficult. Tanden needs the support of moderate Republicans such as Rob Portman of Ohio or Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, but neither has come out in favor of the nominee.
Portman, who headed the budget office during President George W. Bush’s administration, has criticized Tanden for promoting “incivility and division” with her tweets. That criticism came during a hearing at which Tanden apologized for those messages.
Some of Tanden’s supporters noted that Republicans spent four years ignoring Trump’s divisive, crude and sometimes outright incomprehensible tweets, making their scrutiny of Tanden’s messages somewhat suspect.
Tanden did not reply to a request for comment from Yahoo News.
Republicans know that they must display a willingness to work with the Biden administration, lest they be branded the party of obstruction during a time of unprecedented crisis. At the same time, they need to show the GOP base they are willing to oppose Biden, whom conservative outlets like Fox News and Newsmax have hyperbolically depicted as taking the U.S. down the road to socialism.
Narrow congressional majorities and the selection of partisan, ideological nominees have made Cabinet nominations more fraught than they once were. According to a U.S. Senate database, the last president to not have a Cabinet nominee rejected or withdrawn was Ronald Reagan, who became president nearly a half-century ago.
https://news.yahoo.com/neera-tandens-nom...-163506839.htmlLet me start by saying that I agree with the moderate Republicans who do not plan to support her confirmation. I do not by the excuse of, "Yeah but look at what you guys did!" That's not what Biden claimed he was looking for.
THIS is what Biden said he was looking for.
Biden promises appointees he will fire them 'on the spot' if they disrespect others
During a virtual ceremony from the White House, President Biden had a stern and honest message to his appointees: respect others.
When swearing in his appointees on day one of his presidency, President Joe Biden had a stern and honest message to the almost 1,000 people that will be working with him over the next four years: respect others.
"But I am not joking when I say this, if you are ever working with me and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect... talk down to someone, I promise you I will fire you on the spot," the 46th president of the United States said on Wednesday. "On the spot. No ifs, ands or buts. Everybody... everybody is entitled to be treated with decency and dignity. That's been missing in a big way the last four years.""I'm confident you have the capacity to do it," he later added. "We're gonna be judged. We are gonna be judged whether or not we restore the integrity and competency in this government... I need your help badly."
"We have to restore the soul of this country, and we're counting on all of you to be part of that. It's not hyperbole. The only thing I expect with absolute certitude is honesty and decency — the way you treat one another, the way you treat the people you deal with. And I mean that sincerely," he said.
"Remember: The people don't work for us. We work for the people. I work for the people. They pay my salary. They pay your salary. They put their faith in you. I put my own faith in you. And so we have an obligation," Biden said.
The ceremony happened virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic with his remarks being delivered from the state dining room in the White House. Prior to his stern warning, Biden, 78, thanked the appointees' families for the upcoming sacrifices they will make so their loved ones can serve this nation.
"I know you," he said. "I know your heart, your dedication, your commitment to this nation. And I know you can do it and we're going to do it by leading with one core American value: humility and trust, collegiality, diversity, competency and family. And I wanna thank your family for the sacrifices."
Later, Biden admitted that he is going to make mistakes, but that he will need the help of those working with him to not only fix them but also being accountable when they make them.
"I'm gonna make mistakes," he said. "When I make them I am going to acknowledge them. I'll tell you. I will need your help to help me correct them. We're not gonna walk away. We're gonna take responsibility. That's what we do."
After taking office on Wednesday, Biden signed more than a dozen executive actions, including measures to rejoin the Paris Agreement on climate change, repeal Trump's restrictions on travel from several Muslim-majority countries, stop construction of the Southern border wall and mandate the wearing of masks on federal property.
https://www.today.com/news/biden-promises-appointees-he-will-fire-them-spot-if-they-t206392You don't explain the conduct you expect from those you appoint and then nominate someone who has shown the exact opposite by their own conduct.