Biden won’t pull Tanden nomination, says she’ll get the votes

President Biden told reporters Friday he believes there are enough votes to confirm Neera Tanden to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) despite Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) saying he would oppose her nomination.

“I think we are going to find the votes and get her confirmed,” Biden told reporters at Joint Base Andrews following a trip to the Pfizer vaccine manufacturing plant in Michigan. The White House also said it would not pull Tanden’s nomination.

“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,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. 

Still, Tanden’s ability to get confirmed is tenuous after Manchin said in a statement Friday afternoon that he would oppose her nomination, citing her “overtly partisan statements.” Tanden has withstood criticism for tweets harshly criticizing Republicans.

“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 this reason, I cannot support her nomination.”

Most Republicans have already signaled they will oppose Tanden’s nomination. Manchin’s opposition also suggested that other moderate Democrats, like Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.), could also oppose her.

The Senate is split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans, with Vice President Harris casting the tie-breaking vote. At least one Republican would need to vote with Democrats to approve Tanden in order for her to be confirmed given Manchin’s opposition.

Two Senate committees have held hearings for Tanden but neither has held a vote yet on whether to advance her nomination to a full floor vote.