Neera Tanden, President BidenThe White House’s choice to head the leading budget and management office considered her as a candidate. Teeth sent a letter to Mr. Biden sent to explain her decision.
The confirmation of Teeth seems doomed when moderate Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia said he would not support her nomination, as did several moderate Republicans. GOP Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said earlier Tuesday that she has not yet decided whether she will support Teeth, but Teeth’s letter indicates there is no way forward.
“Unfortunately, it now becomes clear that there is no way forward to get confirmation, and I do not want the continued consideration of my nomination to be a distraction from your other priorities,” Tanden said in the letter.
The White House has issued a statement accepting the withdrawal of Teeth. The statement said she was looking forward to giving her another role in the administration.
The Washington Post first reported the decision of Teeth.
The nomination of Tanden, a Democratic veteran, has raised eyebrows at Capitol Hill given her history of biased commentary, especially on Twitter. Her confirmation hearings included readings from some of her previous tweets, but the White House insisted it would still be a path to her confirmation.
Senator Bernie Sanders, a regular enemy of Tanden, appeared on CNN shortly before Tanden removed her and did not want to say whether he would support her.
“Well, Neera Tanden does not have the votes, so we will see what happens in the future,” Sanders said. When Sanders pressured him, he said, “I will make the decision when the vote takes place.”
Biden is now electing the deputy director of the OMB, Shalanda Young, who appeared before the Senate’s budget committee on Tuesday. And while Democrats support Teeth, Sanders, the committee chair, did not mention her during the trial.
Concluding his interrogation on Young, Senator Lindsey Graham, the Republican’s position on the committee, said: “Well, you’ll get my support – maybe even for both works, who knows.”
GOP senator John Kennedy added: “You may be more than deputy. You may be the sheriff.”
Sarah Ewall-Wice reported.