Senate Committee Postpones Tanden Confirmation Hearing

Neera Tanden, nominee for Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), testifies during a Senate Committee on the Budget hearing on February 10, 2021. (Photo by ANDREW HARNIK/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
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A Senate committee will postpone its confirmation hearing for Neera Tanden, President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget, that was originally scheduled for Wednesday morning.

“We are postponing the business meeting because members are asking for more time to consider the nominee,” a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee aide told Axios who first reported the postponement.

“The president deserves to have a team in place that he wants, and we’re going to work with our members to figure out the best path forward,” the aide added.

Much of the criticism against Tanden has been for past tweets that used name-calling targeted at some of the lawmakers now deciding her fate.

Tanden had referred to Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) as “Voldemort,” and “Moscow Mitch.” She also once tweeted that “vampires have more heart than Ted Cruz,” while calling Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) “pathetic” and “the worst.” 

Ironically, many of the same Republicans who are prepared to torch Tanden for lacking decorum on Twitter have readily excused harsh language and aggressive attacks in tweets from members of their own party.  

The news of the delayed hearing from one of the committees tasked with advancing Tanden’s confirmation comes after several senators expressed opposition to the Biden nominee.

A senior aide on the Senate Budget Committee, whose hearing was also was postponed, told CNN that committee chair Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) had called Tanden on Tuesday night to inform her of the committee’s plans to postpone the hearing.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki issued a statement on Wednesday morning lauding Tanden’s expertise in policy, in spite of mounting criticism.

Although the White House has defended Tanden, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said last week that he would not vote to confirm her and House Democrats have backup plans in the works for a replacement, according to a separate report. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Collins has said she will vote against Tanden’s confirmation.

In a statement beating the hollow drum of bipartisan unity, Collins said that Tanden’s “past actions have demonstrated exactly the kind of animosity that President Biden has pledged to transcend.”

Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Mitt Romney (R-UT) have also signaled they would vote against Tanden’s confirmation.

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Notable Replies

  1. Avatar for gr gr says:

    Folks back home don’t like wimmin; don’t like dark wimmin. We need men who look like Ron Johnson.

  2. Avatar for n_b n_b says:

    Was Collin’s brow furrowed with concern? Or does that only happen during impeachments?

  3. It’s unfortunate. The solution is to add enough Democrats to the Senate in 2022, that we can tell Manchild Manchin and Cinema Sinema to go f*** themselves.

    But for now, apologize to her and move on.

  4. I am wondering if the postponement is a good thing for Tanden and the admin.

    I am not feeling like a loss here would have wider implications. Is this considered true? or would we be reading stories about how the admin suffered a “black eye”

  5. They have excused and voted for far worse tweeters in the past year or two, although they have never been faced with voting for anything but white guys, so that explains it in my book.

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