(JustPatriots.com)- Neera Tanden has a problem. Not only are moderate conservatives against her nomination as the head of the Office of Budget and Management, but at least one moderate Democrat is, too.
On Monday, Republican Senator Susan Collins from Maine announced she would oppose president Joe Biden’s pick to head the OMB. In a statement, Collins said she would vote against Tandem’s nomination if she officially came before the Senate. The statement read:
“[She] has neither the experience nor temperament to lead this critical agency. Her past actions have demonstrated exactly the kind of animosity Pres. Biden pledged to transcend.”
She also criticized Tanden’s actions to delete past tweets that have been critical of Republicans and even moderate Democrats, saying this “raises concerns about her commitment to transparency.”
Republican Senator Mitt Romney from Utah also said he’d vote against Tanden, saying his is “critical of her extreme rhetoric.” Romney said he had his staff dig into her record, and found that “consistent with things I’ve said and done in the past, I could not support her in this circumstance.”
In the past, Tanden tweeted that Collins was “the worst.” She once called Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell “Voldemort,” and even went after Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders.
Making a reference to Sanders’ campaign in the 2016 Democratic primary, Tanden tweeted:
“Russia did a lot more to help Bernie than the DNC’s random internal emails did to help Hillary.”
The big challenge for Tanden now, though, is that even Democratic Senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia said he wouldn’t support her nomination. While Manchin said he has a “very nice conversation” with Tanden on Monday, he still would not change his position.
Tanden was set to have her nomination voted on in the Senate’s Homeland Security and Budget Committees at some point this week. It’s not certain whether she’d even make it through that vote, though, if Biden chooses to stick by her. Krysten Sinema, a moderate Democratic Senator from Arizona, is on the Homeland Security Committee, and she often sides with Manchin.
The top Republican on that committee, Rob Portman from Ohio, has also said he wouldn’t support Tanden, saying:
“[The] tone, the content and the aggressive partisanship of some of Ms. Tanden’s public statements will make it more difficult for her to work effectively with both parties in this role.”
It’s possible, then, that Tanden never even sees a vote for confirmation on the Senate floor.
Despite all this backlash, it seems that, at least for now, Biden will continue to push forward with Tanden as his pick to lead the OMB. On Monday morning, White House press secretary Jen Psaki tweeted her confidence that Tanden would become the first Asian-American woman to lead the OMB, saying she is an “accomplished policy expert.”
“Looking ahead to the committee votes this week and continuing to work toward her confirmation,” she tweeted.
It’s not clear what Biden will do if Tanden does indeed face strong backlash in Senate committee votes this week, but it’s not looking good for this nominee.
