Neera Tanden's spot on Biden's Cabinet as head of the OMB in trouble

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Neera Tanden's nomination to head the Office of Management and Budget is in jeopardy.

Asian American activists and lawmakers rallied around Neera Tanden's nomination to head the Office of Management and Budget, which appears to be in trouble in the Senate.

Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Mitt Romney, R-Utah, indicated Monday that they plan to vote against Tanden, citing her intemperate and now-deleted social media posts attacking GOP lawmakers.

Since the Senate is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, Vice President Harris could cast the deciding vote, however that requires that all Democrats vote for Tanden. However, her nomination may be in jeopardy after Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va., announced his opposition to Tanden late last week.

“Neera Tanden was a key architect of the Affordable Care Act, which expanded healthcare to millions of American families, and has served as a senior policy advisor to Democratic Presidential campaigns and administrations…Ms. Tanden’s longstanding commitment to advancing policies that improve American lives makes her an ideal choice to serve as President Biden’s top budget advisor,” said Neha Dewan, national director of South Asians for Biden.

The Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, already upset that an AAPI was not named to a Secretary position in Biden's Cabinet, sent a letter to all 100 senators indicating their support for Tanden.

“As a former senior advisor during the Clinton and Obama administrations, a former legislative director in the U.S. Senate, and in her role as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Center for American Progress, Ms. Tanden is widely recognized as an expert in domestic, economic, and foreign policy. Not only is she a leading architect of bold policies designed to support working families, foster broad-based economic growth, and curb rampant inequality, but she is also a pragmatic policy maker who understands the importance of working across the aisle to find common ground on initiatives that will move our nation forward,” said the letter.

Although the OMB is not a Secretary-level post, the OMB director is part of the Cabinet. Hoping to find some Republican support, the letter continued: 

"Throughout her career, Ms. Tanden has worked with both Republicans and Democrats to advance critical bipartisan policy initiatives from expanding the Child Tax Credit to pushing for greater healthcare access to advocating for robust skills training and innovation in education. She has also advanced practical policy solutions by working with organizations like the American Enterprise Institute, the McCain Institute for International Leadership, and R Street Institute, and will continue to prioritize commonsense policy solutions over politics as OMB Director."

Biden’s allies are encouraging his advisors to prepare for the possibility that the Senate may not confirm Tanden, according to CNBC sources.

The White House, however, has stood fast with Tanden despite the criticism. “I think the fact that the president nominated her to…be running OMB reflects his view that she’s the right person to be in his cabinet,” said spokesperson Jen Psaki, adding that the White House believed “her qualifications, her history of working across the aisle with people from different groups who have different points of view is a reflection of how she would do that role.”

What appears to be the issue are the numerous tweets issued by Tanden lambasting some of the current Senators is coming back to haunt the Indian American nominee. Most of the tweets have been deleted but senators have long memories and thin skins, it appears.

In a tweet which has since been deleted, Tanden called Collins ‘the worst’ and attacked her in another tweet for her questioning of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford during Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing.

"Susan Collins' terrible treatment of Dr. Ford should haunt Collins the rest of her days," Tanden tweeted during Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings, when Blasey Ford raised allegations against him.

“The OMB needs steady, experienced, responsive leadership. I will vote against confirming Ms. Tanden,” said Maine's senior senator in a statement Monday morning.

Biden reportedly called Manchin to calm him down and the White House is looking at other Republicans for support. That includes Sen. Lisa Murkowski, D-Alaska, who hasn't publicly stated her vote.