Collins Opposes Tanden Nom. In Sudden Concern Over ‘Temperament’ And ‘Transparency’

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) speaks during the confirmation hearing for Labor Secretary nominee Marty Walsh before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on February 4, 2021. (Photo by Graeme Jennin... Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) speaks during the confirmation hearing for Labor Secretary nominee Marty Walsh before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on February 4, 2021. (Photo by Graeme Jennings-Pool/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) announced on Monday morning that she won’t be providing the one Republican vote President Joe Biden needs to confirm his likely doomed nominee for Office of Management and Budget (OMB) director, Neera Tanden, who once called Collins “the worst” on Twitter.

“Neera Tanden has neither the experience nor the temperament to lead this critical agency,” Collins said in a statement. “Her past actions have demonstrated exactly the kind of animosity that President Biden has pledged to transcend.”

“In addition, Ms. Tanden’s decision to delete more than a thousand tweets in the days before her nomination was announced raises concerns about her commitment to transparency,” the GOP senator continued. “Should Congress need to review documents or actions taken by OMB, we must have confidence that the Director will be forthcoming.”

Collins’ decision signals an eyebrow-raising 180 from the senator’s tolerance for mean tweets, inexperience, and lack of transparency from government officials during the Trump administration, including ex-President Donald Trump himself, as she voted to confirm virtually all of his controversial appointees. Other Republican senators have similarly cited Tanden’s incendiary tweets in their opposition to her nomination.

Tanden said during a confirmation hearing that she “deeply” regrets and apologizes for her “past language.”

Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) have been scrambling to find another vote for Tanden after conservative Democratic senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) announced on Friday that he would vote against her confirmation due to her “overtly partisan” remarks about certain senators on both sides of the aisle. Manchin’s opposition in the Democrats’ razor-thin Senate majority means a vote for the OMB nominee will need to come from the GOP.

A source told CNN on Sunday that Tanden’s outreach to both Democratic and Republican senators “is continuing into next week.”

Following Collins’ announcement on Monday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki asserted that Biden would continue to fight for Tanden, tweeting that the administration was “looking ahead to the committee votes this week and continuing to work toward her confirmation.”

Notable Replies

  1. Avatar for jgr4 jgr4 says:

    "overtly partisan” remarks about certain senators on both sides of the aisle

    If they’re about people in both parties, isn’t that evidence that the comments are nonpartisan, and that’s she’s just going after stupid people? That and the fact that there were lots of tweets about Ted Cruz?

  2. Collins […] won’t be providing the one Republican vote President Joe Biden needs

    OK, but this …

    “Her past actions have demonstrated exactly the kind of animosity that President Biden has pledged to transcend.”

    … is a little ironic.

  3. Avatar for dave48 dave48 says:

    It’s time to find someone else. Nothing more can be done at this point. When the Senate is 50/50 this sort of thing is bound to happen at least a few times.

  4. Avatar for jmacaz jmacaz says:

    At least Collins shows she is consistent. Consistently an asshole.

  5. Avatar for jm_tpm jm_tpm says:

    Well, gee, we know how concerned we are all about ‘temperament’ and ‘civility’. In some ways GOP pols are copying Mr. Trump. By freeing himself from any principles or attempts to be internally consistent in his actions, he obtained almost unlimited freedom of movement. Dems are crucified if they appear to deviate from previous statements or positions. In the case of GOP pols, every action is treated as independent and free of any context.

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