President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he was withdrawing Neera Tanden’s appointment as head of household at her request. It did so after indications that she would not receive Senate endorsement based on previous critical Twitter posts about lawmakers.
Biden also said he expected Tanden, whom he had tapped into as director of the Bureau of Administration and Budget, would get another “role in my administration”. But the president does not identify what that job could be.
Tanden’s withdrawal is the first time a candidate in the Biden cabinet fails to get Senate approval.
In a letter to Biden, Tanden wrote, “I appreciate how hard you and your team at the White House worked to win my endorsement.”
“Unfortunately it now seems clear that there is no way forward to get confirmation and I don’t want the continued consideration of my nomination to be a distraction from your other priorities,” wrote Tanden, the leftist’s president Think tank Center for American Progress.
Tanden’s nomination was in doubt after three senators – Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia and Mitt Romney, R-Utah, and Republican Susan Collins of Maine – said they would vote against her because her story told lawmakers on both sides politics criticizes gang.
This criticism was archived in the 1,000+ tweets that Tanden reportedly deleted prior to the verification process commencing.
Democrats have the least majority control in the Senate. Two independent caucus with 48 Democratic senators that have the same number of votes as the Republican caucus with 50 senators.
Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat, holds the groundbreaking Senate vote, giving her party the power to approve nominations and legislation if the caucus remains unified.
Manchin’s refusal to support Tanden, and the difficulty of getting a Republican to support her, made Tanden’s path to confirmation very narrow.
During her confirmation hearing, Tanden was asked about her previous tweets, including comparing Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., With Harry Potter villain Voldemort and writing that “vampires have more hearts” as a Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican.
Senator Bernie Sanders, the independent Vermonter, had also pointed out Tanden’s “vicious attacks” on him and other progressives in the past, particularly when Sanders was a candidate for Clinton’s campaign as a candidate for the 2016 Democratic nomination against former Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
During her confirmation hearings, Tanden said, “I deeply apologize and apologize for my language and some of my previous languages.”
In a statement released by the White House, Biden said of Tanden: “I have the greatest respect for her accomplishments, experience and advice, and look forward to her playing a role in my administration.”
“It will bring valuable perspectives and insights into our work,” said the President.
White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain had said last week that if Tanden was not confirmed, “We will find another place for her in the administration that does not require Senate confirmation.”
