Senator Joe Manchin said on Friday that he opposed the appointment of Neera Tanden as President Biden’s budget director because of his insulting tweets, but Biden says he will not withdraw his nomination.
Biden told reporters on returning to Washington from a trip to Michigan that “no”, he will not withdraw Tanden’s nomination, although it may now be rejected in the equally divided Senate.
Manchin (DW.V.) cited Tanden’s confrontational tweets with Republicans and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont (I-Vt.) While she served as president of the Democratic Party-aligned Center for American Progress.
“I carefully reviewed Neera Tanden’s public statements and tweets that were personally addressed to my colleagues on both sides of the hall, from Senator Sanders to Senator McConnell and others,” said Manchin.
“I believe that your openly partisan statements will have a toxic and damaging impact on the important working relationship between members of Congress and the next director of the Office of Management and Budget. For this reason, I cannot support your appointment. “
Manchin, a conservative Democrat seen as a decisive vote on controversial issues, said that “we must take significant steps to end the political divide and dysfunction that permeates our policy”.
Tanden now requires Republican support to pass the Senate, but he alienated many conservative lawmakers with personal insults.
But Biden remained hopeful about Tanden’s candidacy on Friday, telling reporters, “I think we will find the votes and get it confirmed.”
Tanden recently deleted more than 1,000 of his tweets that attacked Republican senators, but they also destroyed Sanders’ 2016 presidential candidacy as Russia’s choice against the party’s favorite, Hillary Clinton.
Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio) reminded her this month: “You wrote that Susan Collins is ‘the worst’, that Tom Cotton is a fraud, that vampires have more heart than Ted Cruz, you called leader McConnell Moscow Mitch and Voldemort. “
Senator John Kennedy (R-La.) Joked: “You called Senator Sanders everything but an ignorant slut.”
If confirmed, Tanden will occupy a powerful position to implement Biden’s policies across the federal bureaucracy. Under former President Donald Trump, the budget office instructed agencies to disfavor New York City, Portland and Seattle for federal funding for allegedly tolerating the rise in crime or violent protests.
Tanden is scheduled for a confirmation hearing by the Senate Budget Committee on Wednesday. She already had a confirmation hearing this month before the Senate Finance Committee chaired by Sanders.
In addition to his mean tweets, Sanders, a staunch socialist, said he is concerned about Tanden soliciting millions of dollars in corporate donations at the Center for American Progress.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday night that “Neera Tanden is an accomplished policy expert who would be an excellent Budget Director and we look forward to the committee’s votes next week and will continue to work for her. confirmation through engagement with both parties “