President Joe Biden took a risk putting Neera Tanden up as director of Office of Management and Budget, particularly with her history of partisan and inflammatory tweets, and now the administration might have to scramble for an alternative, Politico reported.
"I wouldn’t want to go another month without an OMB director," a former Obama official told Politico. "It's an incredibly important time. Either let's get Neera confirmed, or you're going to have to move quickly."
Moderate Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., came out against Tanden late this week.
"I believe her overtly partisan statements will have a toxic and detrimental impact on the important working relationship between members of Congress and the next director of the Office of Management and Budget," Manchin wrote in a statement. "For this reason, I cannot support her nomination."
No Republicans have come out in favor thus far, but White House press secretary Jen Psaki issued a hopeful statement Friday night.
"Neera Tanden is an accomplished policy expert who would be an excellent budget director and we look forward to the committee votes next week and to continuing to work toward her confirmation through engagement with both parties," Psaki's statement read.
Biden told reporters "we're going to find the votes to get her confirmed," but officials are still wary and looking for alternatives. Among them are former National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling and California Gov. Gavin Newsom's former chief of staff Ann O'Leary, per Politico.
"It's difficult for them not to put a woman in the job because of the commitments the president made to having a balanced Cabinet," a former Obama official told Politico, noting that confirming Sperling might be easier, but an O'Leary's confirmation may be difficult.
"Does the White House want to have Senate hearings that are going to examine the Gavin Newsom administration in California? That's the baggage. There's a lot of concern."
Both Sperling and O'Leary have publicly maintained support for Tanden's confirmation.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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