Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., while questioning Neera Tanden, the president's nominee to head the Office of Budget and Management, grilled her about millions of dollars in corporate and foreign donations to her think tank, the Center for American Progress.
Hawley outlined donations Tanden's organization had received, including $2.5 million from the United Arab Emirates; $1 million from the managing partner of Bain Capital, and $665,000 from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, reports The National Review.
"You solicited tens of millions of dollars in donations from Wall Street and Silicon Valley companies as president of the Center for American Progress, including very large contributions from Mark Zuckerberg," Hawley told Tanden, quoting media reports.
"Given this record, how can you assure us that you'll work to see that these Silicon Valley and Wall Street firms don't exercise undue influence . . . in the making of government policy?" Hawley asked.
Tanden responded she and the Center for American progress "aggressively [took on] the role of Facebook and tech companies, have called for higher taxes on companies, [and] regulation of companies."
Tanden added she is proud of the think tank and policies that "would limit the power of Wall Street and limit the power of tech companies."
Republicans and progressives alike have criticized Tanden for several of her past statements. Members of the GOP took offense with her accusations Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., had "broken" the Senate, Supreme Court, and democracy.
Progressives, meanwhile, slam Tanden, a former aide of Hillary Clinton's, for disparaging Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and after she allegedly was in a physical altercation with the senator's former campaign manager, The New York Times reported.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.