White House chief of staff Ron Klain said controversial Office of Management and Budget nominee Neera Tanden will still have a place in the administration if not confirmed by the Senate.
“If Neera Tanden is not confirmed, she will not become the budget director,” he said. “We will find some other place for her to serve the administration that doesn’t require Senate confirmation.”
Klain still vowed to get Tanden confirmed despite the mounting unlikelihood, given centrist Sen. Joe Manchin’s stated opposition to her candidacy.
“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 Sanders to Senator McConnell and others,” the West Virginia Democrat said in a statement Friday. “I believe her overtly partisan statements will have a toxic and detrimental impact on the important working relationship between members of Congress and the next director of the Office of Management and Budget.”
BIDEN IS STICKING WITH OMB PICK NEERA TANDEN EVEN AFTER KEY DEMOCRAT ANNOUNCED OPPOSITION
Despite Klain’s public vote of confidence, the White House reportedly views Manchin’s opposition as a potential death knell for the candidate and is floating alternatives. Among the considered replacements are Gene Sperling, top economic adviser to former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, and Ann O’Leary, a Center for American Progress alumna who specializes in health, education, labor, and economic security policy.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki did not rule out withdrawing Tanden’s name from contention.
“That’s not the stage we’re in,” Psaki told reporters on Wednesday when asked if Biden would pull Tanden’s name from contention, notably not rejecting the possibility entirely.
In light of the growing opposition, the Senate’s Homeland Security and Budget committees both delayed planned Wednesday votes on Tanden’s nomination.
Tanden faced sharp questioning over her plethora of fiery tweets targeting individual members of Congress, as well as corporate donations to the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank where she serves as president.
The nominee expressed remorse for her prior tweets during her confirmation hearings.
“I know there have been some concerns about some of my past language on social media, and I regret that language and take responsibility for it,” she told lawmakers.
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Tanden’s confirmation requires a simple majority. If the chamber is deadlocked, Vice President Kamala Harris will cast the deciding vote.
