Thin-skinned Senators might doom Neera Tanden's nomination

SCREEN CAPTURE / CNN

Neera Tanden's nomination is getting resistance in the Senate.

OPINION

The nomination of Neera Tanden appears to be in limbo, if not dead in the water. Two Senate committees which were supposed to vote on the Office of Management and Budget nominee Wednesday, had their votes postponed, presumably for the White House to garner more support for the embattled Indian American nominee.

Tanden's nomination is in trouble because of some combative tweets she sent out criticizing several senators on both sides of the aisle.

Who would have guessed that the senators had such thin skin, considering we've just gone through four years of one of the most offensive tweeters of all time. Donald Trump weaponized Twitter to viciously attack those who disagreed with him.

Some of the senators who were so offended by Tanden's tweets are the same senators who -- when asked about Trump's attacks -- said they hadn't seen the tweets or that they don't pay attention to social media.

At least three moderate Republicans the Democrats hoped would vote for Tanden said they would vote against her nomination.

Republicans Susan Collins of Maine, Mitt Romney of Utah, Rob Portman of Ohio and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania — have announced that they will vote against her nomination, citing her "mean tweets." They will be joined by Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

“I have carefully reviewed Neera Tanden’s public statements and tweets that were personally directed towards my colleagues on both sides of the aisle from Senator (Bernie) Sanders to Senator (Mitch) McConnell and others,” Manchin said.

During a confirmation hearing in eaerly February, Sanders had grilled Tanden on her “vicious attacks”, to which she apologised and expressed regret over the statements she made on social media.

At another confirmation hearing, Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, criticized Tanden on calling fellow Senator Susan Collins “the worst”, Republican Senator Tom Cotton a fraud, McConnell the “Moscow Mitch” and “Voldemort”, and for saying that vampires have more heart than Republican Senator Ted Cruz.

Tanden's tweets that offended the tender ears of the politicians don't even light a match when compared to the terrible things Trump said about his various critics or Republicans who dared question his policies.

When Romney voted to impeach Trump, Trump's resonse was, Utah “is the home of our worst senator ... Romney couldn’t be elected dogcatcher in Utah right now.”

"We can disagree with her tweets, but in the past, Trump nominees that they've confirmed and supported had much more serious issues and conflicts than just something that was written on Twitter,” Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) said in an interview after tweeting in frustration about Manchin’s reported hesitancy around some nominations. “This is not just about any one nominee like Neera, or whoever else — it's just about this pattern that is happening and increasingly hard to ignore.”

So far, the White House has stood fast in supporting Tanden. 

"We're continuing to fight for her confirmation," said White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Thursday afternoon. On Wednesday night, White House chief of staff Ron Klain told CNN, "we're fighting our guts out" to confirm Tanden.

Asian Americans, already stung by not having an AAPI named as a Cabinet Secretary, rallied to Tanden's support,

The Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus sent a letter  to the 100 senators. In the letter they cited her qualifications and the fact that AAPI need representation in the Cabinet.

“Ms. Tanden’s substantial policy, legislative, and executive branch experience makes her exceptionally qualified to lead the OMB and ensure that our nation’s budgets and programs reflect our shared values of hard work, fairness, and respect. As a daughter of a single mother who relied on public housing and food stamps to survive, Ms. Tanden understands firsthand the struggles that many Americans face every day and the pivotal role that government can play in leveling the playing field and creating an economy that works for working families,” wrote the Members. 

“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.”

Social media activity by AAPI groups ramped up using hashtags, such as #IStandWithNeera. A #YESNeera campaign that used the words “Yes to Progress Yes to Women Yes to AAPIs” reached more than 77.2 million people, according to the AAPI Victory Fund.

“She is being held to a much higher standard, even though nobody disputes her background and qualifications to be OMB director,” said Shekar Narasimhan, AAPI Victory Fund chair to Politico. “It’s becoming apparent this higher standard applies primarily to nominees of color, and it particularly hurts with historic nominations like Neera’s.”