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Key senators oppose Neera Tanden’s nomination as Biden’s budget czar
Tanden has faced opposition for sharp and sometimes offensive remarks she made over the last four years, especially against Republicans, but not sparing non-Republicans either. She called Senator Collins “the worst”; and Senator Mitch McConnell, the top Republican “Moscow Mitch” and “Voldemort”.
Indian American Neera Tanden’s chances of being confirmed as President Joe Biden’s budget chief suffered a major blow on Monday after two Republican senators, who were most likely to bail her out by compensating for the loss of support from a Democrat, announced she did not have their votes.
Tanden has faced opposition for sharp and sometimes offensive remarks she made over the last four years, especially against Republicans. She has called Senator Collins “the worst”; and Senator Mitch McConnell, the top Republican, “Moscow Mitch” and “Voldemort”.
Republican Senators Susan Collins and Mitt Romney have broken with the rest of party vote against the party line, and with Democrats.
“Neera Tanden has neither the experience nor the temperament to lead this critical agency. Her past actions have demonstrated exactly the kind of animosity that President Biden has pledged to transcend,” Collins said in a statement.
“Senator Romney has been critical of extreme rhetoric from prior nominees, and this is consistent with that position. He believes it’s hard to return to comity and respect with a nominee who has issued a thousand mean tweets, ” a spokesperson for Romney said.
Tanden’s supporters had looked to them and a few others to compensate for the “No” vote announced by Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat, last week. Tanden needs the support of all 50 Democrats in the evenly divided 100-member Senate, in the hope of getting past the line, with Vice-President Kamala Harris’s constitutionally provided tie-breaker vote. With the loss of Manchin’s support, Tanden was down to 49 Democrats, and was at the mercy of Republicans to get to 50 votes.
Another Indian American, Vivek Murthy, who is Biden’s nominee for Surgeon General, could face headwinds when his starts his confirmation process on Thursday, over earnings from Covid-19 consulting work for private companies. Murthy had advised Biden’s campaign on the pandemic and joined the president-elect’s Covid-19 task force as a co-chair.
He is likely to be confirmed, although narrowly.
Murthy, who will appear for his confirmation as Surgeon General for a second stint, could face questions about consultancy earnings. He made $2.6 million since January 2020, in Covid-19 related consulting last year, according to ethics documents he filed himself, which were first reported by the Washington.
The earnings were from Carnival Corporation’s cruise lines, which have become for a time a major Covid-19, Airbnb’s rental properties and other firms. He also made $522,650 for about three dozen speeches at a range of venues including hospitals and health insurers. Murthy had advised Biden, as a candidate, was a co-chair of the president-elect’s taskforce on the coronavirus pandemic.
No senator, from either party, has raised the issue of his earnings yet. But he had a rocky confirmation the last time around, with Republicans targeting him for his position on gun violence which he considers a public health problem. He was confirmed eventually in 2014, a year and a half after being nominated.
Murthy’s nomination could run into trouble with Manchin again. The senator is gun rights supporter, and he had voted against confirming him in 2014. This time, a spokesperson told the Washington Post, the senator “has not decided how he will vote”.
President Biden has said he is not pulling Tanden’s nomination and said last week he was confident she will be confirmed. The White House is still backing her. “Neera Tanden is an accomplished policy expert who would be an excellent Budget Director and we look forward to the committee votes this week and to continuing to work toward her confirmation through engagement with both parties,” Jen Psaki, the spokesperson, said in a statement on Monday.
Tanden has apologised for her past remarks, and repeatedly during the confirmation hearings. “I do think the last several years have been very polarizing and I apologise for my language that has contributed to that,” she said.
If confirmed Tanden will become the first Indian American to hold a regular federal cabinet position. Nikki Haley had held a cabinet-rank position as ambassador to the UN in the Trump administration. That post was downgraded after her exit.
