President Biden’s nominee to head the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Neera Tanden, will appear before the Senate for confirmation on Tuesday. Tanden, a longtime Clinton ally who currently serves as president of the Center for American Progress, has a disturbing history of embracing conspiracy theories and launching Twitter attacks on Republican senators.
Since being nominated to the prestigious position in the Biden administration, Tanden has deleted more than 1,000 tweets attacking GOP lawmakers, including Ted Cruz, Susan Collins and Tom Cotton. Ohio GOP Sen. Rob Portman took note and pressed Tanden to stop her rhetoric against Republicans.
.@SenRobPortman asks Biden’s nominee for OMB director, Neera Tanden, about 1,000 tweets she deleted attacking multiple Republican senators.
Her snarky apology just screams unity and healing.
To watch?? pic.twitter.com/2xajonSPdw
— Whitney Robertson (@whitneyleerob) February 9, 2021
Portman tells Tanden, “there are 9 more pages of tweets about Senator Cruz.”
— Jeff Stein (@JStein_WaPo) February 9, 2021
Portman, who once served as OMB director himself, noted that Tanden’s “tone, content and aggressive partisanship” may make her position arduous. He pressed her to “mend fences and relationships” with lawmakers whom she “attacked in social media posts.”
Tanden said she “regretted” her partisan rhetoric, but offered no real apology or reason for deleting her previous tweets about GOP lawmakers. Her confirmation as one of Biden’s most controversial picks is ongoing, and the Senate is also beginning impeachment proceedings.
