On Friday, Senator Joe Manchin (DW.Va.) opposed Tanden’s nomination, citing his previous tweets attacking lawmakers on both sides of the corridor. Two leading Senate Republicans followed suit.
Inside the White House, it has not gone unnoticed that many of the lawmakers who opposed Tanden’s social media missives – including Manchin – voted to confirm Richard Grenell, the acid-speaking Trump booster, for the post of U.S. ambassador to Germany. Democrats inside and outside the Hill also argued that Tanden, who is a descendant of South Asia, was one of several colored nominees being treated differently from Trump-era nominees, who launched personal attacks or expressed prejudiced opinions.
“We may disagree with their tweets, but in the past, the Trump nominees they confirmed and supported had much more serious problems and conflicts than just something that was written on Twitter,” said Rep. Grace Meng (DN.Y.) in an interview after tweeting in frustration about Manchin’s reported hesitation around some indications. “It’s not just about any candidate like Neera, or anyone else – it’s just this pattern that is happening and increasingly difficult to ignore.”
A longtime figure in Democratic politics, Tanden has become a disproportionate online figure in recent years, directing personal and often extensive criticism on Twitter to left and right opponents, including senators. For this reason, his nomination for the OMB post carried obvious risks, even with Democrats gaining control of the Senate.
Supporters now say their presence on social media is being used as a cover by their opponents, noting that she apologized, deleted and took ownership of her tweets. And Democrats argue that after Trump’s years, there is little justification for someone’s online behavior to serve as a disqualifier. They point not only to the ex-president’s blunt presence on social media and repeated attacks on black lawmakers, but also to Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s conduct during his Supreme Court confirmation hearing and confirmation of former Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Wing) as attorney general decades after losing a bid for a federal judge position about accusations of racism.
Kavanaugh “went crazy at the hearing on senators,” said Ilyse Hogue, outgoing president of the abortion rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America. “They are saying that Neera cannot be confirmed because of the tone of her tweets. To me, it looks like a thin paper and certainly a different standard of how they expect women to speak compared to the men they voted to confirm. “
It is not just Tanden’s indication that is bringing complaints of sexism and racial prejudice. White House officials and those who served in the transition note that several of Biden’s black nominees have seen their nominations underestimated in the Senate or have already suffered comparatively harsh criticism than white men for management positions.
Republicans are currently harshly cracking down on former California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, Biden’s choice to head the Department of Health and Human Services, citing his views on expanding medical care and access to abortion for unauthorized immigrants. They also argue that Becerra, whose mother immigrated from Guadalajara and his father grew up in Tijuana, Mexico, is underqualified because he himself is not a doctor. Trump Health Secretary, Alex Azar was not a doctor.
Biden’s Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was confirmed in a largely partisan vote earlier this month. First Latin and immigrant to occupy the position, Mayorkas had already been confirmed by the Senate three times. But his confirmation of that round was by the smallest of all margins for Biden’s nominees to date.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s candidate may soon face even greater opposition. Republicans accused the supposed first Native American to lead the department of being “radical”, pointing out its support for progressive environmental policies and opposition to new contracts for oil and gas exploration on federal lands. Manchin, who is leading Haaland’s confirmation hearing on Tuesday, said he remains undecided about his nomination, as well as the others – indecision that generated a severe rebuke and a suggestion of partiality from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DN. Y.).
Manchin’s office declined to comment. But in an interview earlier in the day, he noted that he had spoken to Tanden on Monday and would still oppose her.
“I am totally bipartisan. I really am. I told her that: this is nothing personal,” said Manchin. “The time has come for bipartisanship to begin. Let’s see what happens on the other side.”
Derrick Johnson, president of the civil rights group NAACP, said that as nominees approached their confirmation votes, “it would be clear if those individuals who are women or people of color are receiving a different level of scrutiny.”
“I hope we can correct the course quickly and not allow it to be a legacy of the Senate,” added Johnson.
Democrats fear that even more color nominees may have problems soon, including civil rights attorney Kristen Clarke, nominated for assistant attorney general in the DOJ civil rights division, and Vanita Gupta, Biden nominee for associate attorney general. . Gupta was the subject of an advertising campaign launched recently by conservative groups, who accused her of wanting to “get the convicts out of prison” and “reducing the punishments for white supremacists”. The other target of the groups was Becerra. A third ad it ran accused the Biden administration of welcoming dark money.
“Vanita Gupta wants to strip the police and, instead of dealing with this extremely dangerous position, her liberal advocates are making caricatured allegations to avoid the problems,” said Carrie Severino, president of the Judicial Crisis Network, one of the ad sponsoring groups. Gupta did not call for the evacuation of the police.
Janet Murguía, the president and chief executive of the Latin defense organization UnidosUS, said she received a call with her team on Monday morning, where the question of Biden’s office choices hitting roadblocks generated prolonged conversation and a rising alarm.
“It has been incredibly disturbing to see a pattern or trend emerging in which people of color and women appear to be at the bottom of the list in terms of audiences and finalizing their confirmations,” Murguía said in an interview. “It is highly offensive to see this slowness taking place when we have such an incredible need to put these different leaders in charge at these different agencies.”
“Postponing these nominations, regardless of which party, is not a good look and raises many questions about why,” she added.
Senator Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) asked the same question on Monday, when she listed Tanden, Haaland and Becerra as nominees “being examined more closely”.
“There seems to be a pattern here,” said Hirono. She added that if Tanden’s appointment falls, Biden’s nominee to be a US trade representative, Katherine Tai, would be “the only Asian woman in the cabinet”.
“And nobody knows who [the] commercial representative is, ”she said.
Burgess Everett and Meridith McGraw contributed reporting.