WASHINGTON – Neera Tanden’s appointment as director of the Office of Management and Budget took another hit on Monday with Senator Susan Collins, R-Maine, announcing her opposition.
“Neera Tanden has no experience or temperament to lead this critical agency,” said Collins in a statement. “His previous actions demonstrated exactly the kind of animosity that President Biden promised to transcend.”
Collins said Tanden’s decision to “delete more than 1,000 tweets in the days before his appointment was announced raises concerns about his commitment to transparency”.
“If Congress needs to review documents or actions taken by OMB, we must be confident that the director will be available,” she said. “OMB needs stable, experienced and responsive leadership. I will vote against Mrs. Tanden’s confirmation. “
Collins’ announcement came after Senator Joe Manchin, DW.Va., said on Friday that he would oppose Tanden to serve as director of the OMB. He said he reviewed Tanden’s previous tweets criticizing officials from across the political spectrum and said he cannot support his nomination because “his openly partisan statements will have a toxic and damaging impact” on the relationship between Congress and the OMB.
With Manchin’s opposition, Democrats will need at least one vote from the Republican Party to confirm it in the Senate floor. Collins’ rejection of the nomination does not bode well for Tanden, as the Maine senator is among the most moderate members of the party who sometimes join Democrats in important votes.
President Joe Biden said on Friday in response to Manchin’s announcement that he did not plan to withdraw Tanden’s nomination.
Former Senator Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., tweeted over the weekend she hopes Tanden will be confirmed, calling her “smart, experienced and qualified” to lead the OMB.
“We must always remember that there will be a Republican president in the future who will want his nominees to be confirmed,” he said.
