Indian American takes over Susan Rice's job as Biden's Domestic Policy Advisor

Neera Tanden will take over the post held by Susan Rice.

A long-time advisor to three Presidents has been promoted and will take over the prominent  position held by Susan Rice as Assistant to the President and Domestic Policy Advisor. 

In her new position Neera Tanden, whose mother was born in India, will be the first Asian American to lead any of the three major White House policy councils in history, with an office steps away from the Oval Office. 

Tanden had been serving in the White House as a Senior Advisor and Staff Secretary, a powerful position  where she acted as gatekeeper on who could meet with the President.

"I am pleased to announce that Neera Tanden will continue to drive the formulation and implementation of my domestic policy, from economic mobility and racial equity to health care, immigration and education," Biden said today (May 5, 2023).

"As Senior Advisor and Staff Secretary, Neera oversaw decision-making processes across my domestic, economic and national security teams. She has 25 years of experience in public policy, has served three Presidents, and led one of the largest think tanks in the country for nearly a decade," said Biden in his announcement. 

"She was a key architect of the Affordable Care Act and helped drive key domestic policies that became part of my agenda, including clean energy subsidies and sensible gun reform. 

"While growing up, Neera relied on some of the critical programs that she will oversee as Domestic Policy Advisor, and I know those insights will serve my Administration and the American people well. I look forward to continuing to work closely with Neera in her new role," Biden said.

Tanden served in both the Obama and Clinton administrations, as well as presidential campaigns and think tanks. 

Most recently, Neera was the President and CEO of the Center for American Progress and the Center for American Progress Action Fund. 

Tanden previously served as senior advisor for health reform at the Department of Health and Human Services, working on President Obama’s health reform team in the White House. Prior to that, she was the director of domestic policy for the Obama-Biden presidential campaign, and served as policy director for the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign.

In Biden's first year as President, Biden picked Tanden to lead the Office of Management and Budget. However, she was unable to get enough Senators to approve her nomination because of some aggressive social media postings as CEO of the liberal think tank Center for American Progress lashing out at some lawmakers.

When it became apparent that her nomination would fail to garner the votes, she voluntarily removed her name for consideration in 2021.

Rice's departure was not unexpected. With her expertise in foreign policy, insiders were surprised that she accepted the role of Domestic Policy Advisor. Before accepting the post, she had hinted that she would only serve two years.

Tanden's appointment, which does not require Senate confirmation, was praised by Rep. Judy Chu, chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. 

"As the first Asian American to lead any of the three major White House policy councils in history, Tanden has a wealth of experience and will immediately be able to expertly serve the President—crafting policy and marshaling the resources of the federal government to improve the lives of all Americans. I look forward to CAPAC’s continued engagement with her to ensure that the policy needs of our communities are being addressed," said Chu.

“That this announcement comes during Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month underscores the President’s continued commitment to a diverse federal workforce and ensuring all our communities’ voices are at the table.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter or at his blog Views From the Edge.

Controversial Indian American withdraws her name forBiden's Cabinet

ANALYSIS

Neera Tanden, President Biden's pick to head the Office of Management and Budget, has withdrawn her name for consideration for that Cabinet position.

It is the first setback, and perhaps not the last, for Biden in the nomination process through the Senate, which is evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans.

"I have accepted Neera Tanden’s request to withdraw her name from nomination for Director of the Office of Management and Budget," said Biden in a statement.

"I have the utmost respect for her record of accomplishment, her experience and her counsel, and I look forward to having her serve in a role in my Administration. She will bring valuable perspective and insight to our work."

Following is the letter from Tanden to President Biden withdrawing her nomination:

Dear President Biden,

I am writing to you to withdraw my nomination for Director of the Office of Management and Budget. It has been an honor of a lifetime to be considered for this role and for the faith placed in me.

I appreciate how hard you and your team at the White House has worked to win my confirmation. Unfortunately, it now seems clear that there is no path forward to gain confirmation, and I do not want continued consideration of my nomination to be a distraction from your other priorities.

I am incredibly grateful for your leadership on behalf of the American people and for your agenda that will make such a transformative difference in people’s lives.

When Biden first nominated Tanden, head of the Center for American Progress and a strong supporter of HIllary Clinton, as his choice to head the OMB, Capitol observers and insiders speculated that she would have a rough time getting Senate approval, largely because she has been outspoken in her social media criticism of some of the Senators from both major parties.

Two weeks ago, when West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin announced that he would not support Tanden's nomination, it appeared that Tanden's cause was all but dead. One Democratic switch could tilt the Senate to the Republicans, who were in no mood to approve someone whose harsh criticism hurt their tender egos.

Some pundits even called her the "sacrificial lamb" so that the Republicans can withhold approval and show that the GOP Senators can still wield their influence in the evenly split Upper House. Hopefully, if the GOP can block Tanden, it was speculated, they would go easy on Biden's other nominees.

Despite the setback, the White House fought hard for Tanden, rallying its forces and talking to the independent-minded Republicans who might support the Indian American nominee.

A meeting between Tanden with Alaska's Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski Monday, failed to get an endorsement, apparently. After their meeting, Murkowski withheld any comment, usually a bad sign. If she was inclined to vote for Tanden, she would have announced her decision right away.

"It is a tragedy that her nomination has been withdrawn, leaving just one AAPI in the cabinet. I believe that Neera deserved to be confirmed on the merits of her work and the President’s faith in her," said Rep. Judy Chu, chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.

Chu led a lobbying effort to get an AAPI nominated to the Cabinet at the Secretary level. Although OMB director is not at the level as a Secretary, she was one of only two AAPI in Biden's Cabinet.

“As President Biden considers nominees to replace her and to fill the rest of the Executive Branch, I hope that he continues to elevate qualified AAPI leaders like Neera Tanden who will help increase the diversity of experience and thought in the government, and ensure our government looks more like our country.”

Republicans, flush with the excitement of their first victory over the Democratic President, may not be satisfied with rejecting Tanden.

A campaign by conservatives has already started against Vanita Gupta, another Indian American woman, who Biden picked to be the Associate Attorney General.

Gupta, who served in President Obama's DOJ as head of the Civil Rights Decision, is being targeted by Judicial Crisis Network, Heritage Action for America, and Americans for Public Trust, says Politico. The three groups have raised $800,000 to run ads against Gupta. who will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee March 9.

However, current and former police chiefs in more than 53 cities across the country, as well as the National Fraternal Order of Police, are issuing their support for Gupta, praising her leadership and record and urging the Senate Judiciary Committee to "quickly confirm her" to the post.

“I have worked with Ms. Gupta in my position as sheriff in the past and know her to be no stranger to law enforcement issues, says David Mahoney, Dane County, WI sheriff and president, National Sheriffs’ Association. "She believes in the truth and like I believes that our nation’s law enforcement officers and leaders must be partners in embracing reforms within our profession and in doing so build a healthy relationship with the Department of Justice.”

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.”

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

SCREEN CAPTURE

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.

Indian American's nomination to lead OMB in trouble from the start

Democratic activist Neera Tanden is Joe Biden's pick to lead the Office of Management and Budget.

Joe Biden's selection of Neera Tanden as the new director of the Office of Management and Budget is getting slammed from the right and the left.

On her Twitter account, the Indian American nominee wrote: "After my parents were divorced when I was young, my mother relied on public food and housing programs to get by. Now, I’m being nominated to help ensure those programs are secure, and ensure families like mine can live with dignity. I am beyond honored."

As expected, Republicans denounced Joe Biden's nomination of Neera Tanden to head the Office of Management and Budget.

It is not a question of qualifications, the Democratic loyalist liberal is highly qualified for the position. For a number of Republicans, the reason for their opposition appears to be personal.

The same Republicans who couldn't remember reading or hearing about a derisive, racist, or outrageous tweet from Donald Trump, can easily recall Tanden's tweets, which she used to point out the GOP's hypocrisy.

Even before the formal announcement made made by Biden on Monday afternoon, Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton referred to Tanden as a "partisan hack."

"Neera Tanden, who has an endless stream of disparaging comments about the Republican Senators' whose votes she'll need, stands zero chance of being confirmed," tweeted Drew Brandewie, communications director for Texas Sen. John Cornyn.

As the CEO of the liberal think tank, the Center for American Progress, Tanden was highly critical of some of the GOP Senators whose votes she needs for confirmation and the Republicans are not about to let her forget her attacks.

"Neera Tanden is a big-government, big-spending radical liberal who's a terrible choice for OMB Director," Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida) tweeted. "It's just more proof that @JoeBiden and the Democrats will continue to move further and further to the Left."

Even if the Democrats were able to win one of Georgia's Senate seats making the Senate an even split between Dems and Republicans giving a Vice President Kamala Harris the deciding vote, Tanden might not be able to get a vote from Sen. Bernie Sanders, whom she blamed for taking votes away from Hillary Clinton's run for the presidency in 2016.

As the right amps up their attacks on Tanden, she is also getting criticized from the far left.

“I don’t know anyone personally in Bernie world who is happy about this choice,” said Briahna Joy Gray, Sanders’ former national press secretary, to Politico. “We’re talking about a woman who’s notorious for assaulting Bernie Sanders’ campaign manager.”

Politico also reported that Paco Fabián, campaigns and communications director for the Sanders-founded Our Revolution, said Tanden is “certainly not a unity pick” and “it’s not a secret that progressives and Neera Tanden haven’t gotten along over the last few years on several issues.” 

It is noteworthy that Sanders nor anyone on his current staff has remained silent on Tanden's nomination.

A member of Biden's transition team defended the selection of Tenden: “This is the first time I can recall that an OMB director who’s charged with setting a federal budget will be someone who actually grew up in Section 8 housing, grew up on food stamps,” the official added.

Biden's selection of an Asian American for OMB director drew praise from Rep. Judy Chu, chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. "Neera is a strong, experienced leader who is ready to tackle the urgent economic and financial policy decisions facing our nation as we work to recover from the coronavirus crisis and rebuild an economy that works for all Americans," said Chu. 

EDITOR'S NOTE: A word of caution, this is news sprinkled with opinion. Readers are encouraged to seek multiple news sources to formulate their own positions.

Biden reportedly considering Indian American to head Office of Management and Budget

Neera Tanden expected to be named to head the office of Management and Budget.

This week, President-elect Joe Biden is expected to name his team who will manage the future of the United States economy under the future Biden administration.

Among the names mentioned, Neera Tanden is expected to be nominated to lead the Office of Management and Budget. The Indian American is president and CEO of the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, and the former domestic policy director for the Obama-Biden presidential campaign.

Also expected to be nominated is Janet Yellen for Secretary of the Treasury and Cecilia Rouse to chair the Council of Economic Advisers. If Yellen's nomination survives the GOP-dominated Senate gauntlet, it would put  a woman in charge of the Treasury for the first time in its 231-year history.

Tanden faces tough sledding in the Senate.

Republicans, who are expected to retain control of the Senate, are likely push back against Tanden, who advised Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and has been one of the most outspoken critics of President Trump.

Acceptance of her nomination by the Senate hinges on the outcome of the Jan. 5 runoff elections for Georgia's two Senate seats. If both posts go to Democrats, they would have a 51 to 49 edge. If they lose both seats, the Republicans would retain control. 

If the Democrats can pull off winning one of the seats, the Senate would have a 50-50 tie and the tie-breaking vote will be Vice President Kamala Harris.

Tanden is the first Asian American to be named to Biden's future team of advisors. Pressure to name more AAPI to the White House's inner circle continues to mount after Biden didn't include any AAPIs on the foreign policy and international relations team that he named last week.

A failure to appoint any from the racial groups to the Cabinet, said Rep. Judy Chu, chair of the Caucus of Asian Pacific Americans in Congress. She told told NBC Asian America that overlooking Asian Americans would send a “terrible message that being inclusive does not require including AAPIs.”

“As a consequence, more AAPIs will feel excluded and invisible, and fewer will see a future for themselves in government,” Chu said.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A word of caution, this is news sprinkled with opinion. Readers are encouraged to seek multiple news sources to formulate their own positions.