Biden appoints Neera Tanden as first White House budget chief



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President-elect Joe Biden plans to appoint Neera Tanden, chief executive officer of the liberal think tank Center for American Progress, to become its first White House budget manager, several people briefed on the plans told CBS News.

Two people familiar with the process also confirm that the president-elect is expected to appoint Cecilia Rouse as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers.

Rouse, 56, and Tanden, 50, would be the first women of color to fill their roles, if confirmed. Tanden would be the first woman of color and the first South Asian American to lead the Office of Management and Budget. The office is responsible for an administration’s spending and political plans – and everything from writing a White House budget plan to writing obscure domestic policy and approving testimony in Congress from most of the administration officials.

The post requires Senate confirmation – a potentially daunting task for Tanden in the divided chamber given his penchant for heavily partisan commentary in recent years on television and social media and his role as leader of one of the most major Washington liberal think tanks.

Aides to Biden did not respond to requests for comment.

Tanden’s appointment is expected to be officially announced Tuesday in Wilmington, Delaware, when Mr Biden also plans to announce Janet Yellen, former Federal Reserve Chairman, as the first woman appointed to serve as Secretary of the Treasury, and also to appoint d ‘other economic advisers. .

Rouse previously worked as a member of the Council of Economic Advisers under the Obama administration. The labor economist is currently Dean of the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.

As head of the Center for American Progress, Tanden served as the professional homemaker for dozens of Obama-era public servants, many of whom could join the federal government. She’s also a familiar face to viewers as a frequent guest on national cable and Sunday morning shows.

And it’s those appearances that could help make things harder for Tanden on Capitol Hill.

“Neera Tanden, who has an endless stream of derogatory comments about which Republican senators she will need votes for, has no chance of being confirmed,” tweeted Drew Brandewie, spokesman for Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas, Sunday night.

Tanden previously served in the Department of Health and Human Services, as director of domestic policy for the Obama-Biden presidential campaign, as senior assistant to Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential candidacy, and in as a domestic policy adviser to then-President Bill Clinton.

Several former White House budget directors have risen to much larger roles, including Leon Panetta, who served as Mr. Clinton; Joshua Bolten, who served under President George W. Bush; and Mick Mulvaney, who served as President Trump. They all started as head of the budget and went on to be chief of staff. Others, including Jack Lew, who was President Obama’s second budget chief, went on to serve as chief of staff and then joined the Cabinet as Secretary of the Treasury.

Ronald klain, who is set to become Mr Biden’s first White House chief of staff, did not confirm Tanden’s selection on Sunday night. But amid another official announcement of plans to hire an all-female White House communications team, he tweeted that Biden’s team is set to fill “100 places in the WH by the end of December!”



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