Sen. Joe Manchin Announces He Will Oppose Biden Nominee Neera Tanden, Likely Defeating Her Nomination
President Joe Biden’s nomination of Neera Tanden to head the Office of Management and Budget suffered a crippling blow Friday afternoon. West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin announced that he would oppose Tanden’s nomination, saying her “overtly partisan statements” will only stoke the dangerous political division that exists in D.C.
With Manchin’s defection, it is now highly doubtful that Tanden’s nomination will succeed. With the 50/50 split between Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Senate, Democrats now likely lack the necessary votes to confirm her.
Manchin’s announcement came after a group of 66 conservative leaders authored a memo that outlined Tanden’s past provocative conduct.
“She has called Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) ‘the worst,’ Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) ‘a fraud,’ stated that ‘vampires have more heart than Ted Cruz,’ and called Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) ‘Moscow Mitch’ and ‘Voldemort.’ She has publicly insinuated that Russia helped the presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Tanden has also stated that Republican Party’s ‘capacity for evil knows no bounds.’“
