Neera Tanden\u2019s confirmation to lead the White House Office of Management and Budget is in serious jeopardy after two centrist Republicans announced their opposition to her confirmation on Monday.<\/p>\n
With Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) a no on her confirmation, Tanden needs at least one Republican vote in order to be confirmed in a 50-50 Senate. She won\u2019t be getting that from either Sen. Susan Collins of Maine or Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, who were both seen as possible votes for Tanden.<\/p>\n
Collins said Monday in a statement that Tanden \u201chas neither the experience nor the temperament to lead this critical agency.\u201d She added that the nominee\u2019s \u201cpast actions have demonstrated exactly the kind of animosity that President Biden has pledged to transcend,\u201d citing tweets targeting GOP members of Congress that Tanden has since deleted.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Romney said the senator \u201chas been critical of extreme rhetoric from prior nominees, and this is consistent with that position. He believes it\u2019s hard to return to comity and respect with a nominee who has issued a thousand mean tweets.\u201d<\/p>\n
As president of the Center for American Progress, a think tank aligned with the Democratic establishment, Tanden maintained a combative presence on Twitter, taking aim at lawmakers on both the left and right.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In now-deleted tweets, for example, Tanden said Collins should be haunted by her \u201cterrible treatment of Dr. [Christine Blasey] Ford\u201d during Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh\u2019s confirmation hearings and referred to then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) as \u201cVoldemort.\u201d<\/p>\n
The announcements from Collins and Romney did not deter the Biden administration, which indicated that it is still standing by Tanden\u2019s nomination.<\/p>\n
But with key centrists already lining up against Tanden, it\u2019s hard to see where Joe Biden\u2019s White House finds the votes to save her confirmation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), another potential swing vote, has not yet announced how she plans to vote on Tanden.\u00a0A spokesperson for the senator did not immediately return a request for comment on Monday.<\/p>\n
Manchin, a conservative Democrat representing an increasingly Republican state, cited Tanden\u2019s \u201covertly partisan\u201d comments to explain his position.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs I have said before, we must take meaningful steps to end the political division and dysfunction that pervades our politics,\u201d Manchin said in a statement on Friday. \u201cAt a time of grave crisis, it is more important than ever that we chart a new bipartisan course that helps address the many serious challenges facing our nation.\u201d<\/p>\n