White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Wednesday insisted that the Biden administration remains committed to “fighting” for the nomination of Neera Tanden to lead the OMB, following the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s postponement of its confirmation hearing for Tanden.
“We’re fighting for her nomination and she and our team remain in close contact, close touch with senators and key constituency groups,” Psaki said. “She’s an expert whose qualifications are critical during this time of an unprecendented crisis.”
Tanden has struggled to gain the votes needed to secure her confirmation following Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) announcement last week that he will oppose Biden’s nominee to lead the OMB. Much of the criticism against Tanden is centered on her mean tweets in the past that targeted some of the lawmakers now deciding her fate in a 50-50 Senate, such as referring to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) as “Voldemort.” Ironically, many of the same Republicans who take issue with Tanden’s name-calling tweets have readily excused or acted like they didn’t see derogatory tweets from former President Trump or other members of their own party.
Psaki reiterated her comments issued at a briefing the day before, saying that Tanden has been actively reaching out to senators on both sides of the aisle.
“She’s very engaged in doing outreach to senators, to members on the Hill, answering any questions they have and offering to do that,” Psaki said. “And we’re doing the same.”
Asked whether the Senate committee’s delay of Tanden’s confirmation hearing is viewed as a setback, Psaki brushed the framing aside.
“I think we are committed to continuing to fight for all of our nominees, continuing to do the outreach needed to answer questions, to address concerns anyone has, to reiterate the qualifications of all of the nominees that the President has put forward, and to do due diligence in fighting for the team he’s nominated,” Psaki said.
Pressed on whether Tanden has offered to withdraw, Psaki said: “that’s not the stage we’re in.
“The stage we’re in is working to continue to fight for her nomination,” Psaki said.
Watch Psaki’s remarks below:
