White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Sunday made clear that the Biden administration is not giving up its fight for the confirmation of Neera Tanden for OMB director.
In an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” Psaki repeated the White House’s line that it remains “committed to fighting our hearts out” for Tanden, whose odds of confirmation continue to dwindle as more Republican senators have come out against the OMB nominee following Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) announcement stating his opposition to her confirmation.
“We believe she is the right person. She’s qualified, she’s experienced to lead the budget department,” Psaki said. “She brings unique experience as somebody who’s lived through benefiting from a number of these programs. And she’s worked on these issues for decades across the aisle.”
Chris Wallace: When will the WH pull the nomination of Neera Tanden to be the Budget director?
WH Press Sec. Jen Psaki: We remain committed to fighting our hearts out for Neera Tanden. We believe she is the right person … pic.twitter.com/aqT3Nfexif
— The Recount (@therecount) February 28, 2021
White House senior adviser Cedric Richmond offered a similar take during an appearance on MSNBC Sunday morning. Richmond maintained that the White House is “still working” for Tanden’s confirmation.
“She’s very qualified for the job. No one is questioning her qualifications. We know how qualified she is. She would be a great voice in the administration. And she could help us get very progressive things done,” Richmond said. “So it’s very unfortunate that it’s going this way, but we’re going to keep pushing. At the end of the day, we expect her to be the OMB director.”
Psaki’s latest remarks speaking to the White House continuing to stand by Tanden come a few days after chief of staff Ron Klain told MSNBC that although“we’re fighting our guts out” for Tanden, he suggested that there would be other opportunities for Tanden in the administration if she does not prevail in her OMB nomination.
Last week, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s postponement of its confirmation hearing for Tanden amid her struggle to gain the votes needed to secure her confirmation following Manchin’s opposition. 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. 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.
