Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times via AP
Neera Tanden, President Biden’s nominee for director of the Office of Management and Budget, appears before the Senate Committee on the Budget, February 10, 2021, on Capitol Hill.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) has released a statement saying that he cannot vote to confirm Biden’s nominee for OMB director, Neera Tanden, because of her personally insulting tweets directed at key Republicans while she was serving as head of the Center for American Progress.
Manchin said this will make it hard for her to work with Republicans, and he’s not wrong. “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 said.
For now, White House press secretary Jen Psaki says Biden is sticking with Tanden: “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.”
But Manchin’s opposition could well sink Tanden. Normally, you might expect Biden to enlist a Republican or two to offset Manchin’s negative vote. But with the $1.9 trillion relief package hanging in the balance, Manchin is the last senator Biden wants to cross.
In addition, don’t expect Republicans to bail out this nomination. In her confirmation hearing, Tanden’s apology mollified few. The handful of moderate Republicans would be happy to sacrifice Tanden to throw a bone to their more ferociously partisan colleagues.
There’s also not a lot of love lost between Tanden and the Democratic senator to whom she would report, Budget Committee chair Bernie Sanders. “Your attacks were not just made against Republicans,” Sanders said when Tanden testified before the Senate Budget Committee. “There were vicious attacks against progressives, people who I have worked with—me personally.” The centrist Manchin may prove to be Tanden’s undoing. But there are several other progressive Democratic senators who would not mourn her sacrifice.
It’s looking like Tanden could well gracefully withdraw, with one of those “I’ve become a distraction” statements.
If not Tanden, then who? My sources say Gene Sperling, one of the more progressive veterans of the Clinton/Obama era. He’s already served as head of the National Economic Council.
Sperling was the author of several of the more imaginative policy proposals written for the Biden campaign. When the game of musical chairs ended, he was one of the few senior campaign aides who did not land a top job, but was advised to keep his powder dry just in case.
Sperling has become more of a progressive since leaving office. His 2020 book, Economic Dignity, helps offset some youthful indiscretions of the Clinton years such as his work on the 1997 Balanced Budget Act. Most progressives would applaud, but he is just orthodox enough to win easy confirmation. He’d round out a progressive senior economic team.
Dean Baker, the founding director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, told me: “Gene’s views have genuinely evolved from when he was in the Clinton administration. While I would not have wanted the Gene Sperling of 25 years ago to hold a top position in the Biden administration, I think the Gene Sperling of today would be an outstanding pick as head of OMB.”
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In this case, should Tanden go down, Biden’s second choice would be a lot better than his first one.
