Neera Tanden’s nomination to serve as the director of the Office of Management and Budget appears to be on life support. The odds are stacked against the Clintonista, boss from hell, and president of the Center for American Progress being confirmed by the Senate. Her history of mean tweets — especially those directed at the very senators whose support she needs — is catching up to her. Joe Manchin, Susan Collins, and Mitt Romney have all announced their opposition to Tanden over the last few days. (One of Tanden’s past tweets had labeled Collins as “the worst.”) To become the first OMB director to defend physical abuse by saying without a trace of self-awareness “I didn’t slug him, I pushed him,” she’ll need to not only hold onto Democrats Bernie Sanders (Tanden’s nemesis) and Kyrsten Sinema (a purple-state senator with a history of bucking the party line) but also pick off one of the two Republicans who have yet to announce how they’ll vote: Lisa Murkowski and Shelley Moore Capito. At first glance, Murkowski would appear to be the easier get — she’s more moderate, with a history of crossing party lines — but she’s also up for reelection in 2022 and has lost GOP primary fights before. She might be reluctant to give Democrats this win. White House press secretary Jen Psaki weighed in on the situation on Twitter:
Neera Tanden=accomplished policy expert, would be 1st Asian American woman to lead OMB, has lived experience having benefitted from a number of federal programs as a kid, looking ahead to the committee votes this week and continuing to work toward her confirmation.
Her defenders swiftly alleged a double standard was at play. From Representative Judy Chu (D., Calif.), head of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, in Politico:
Her nomination is very significant for us Asian American and Pacific Islanders. I do believe that this double standard has to do with the fact that she would be a pioneer in that position.
So in the end, Neera Tanden really did unite the Democratic Party . . . around identity-driven pseudo arguments that alienate most Americans. Well done, President Biden.
