Political fight over Biden’s WH budget candidate

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) – The choice of President-elect Joe Biden directing the Office of Management and Budget is quickly emerging as a political battle that could disrupt his efforts to quickly fill his administration.

Some Republicans doubt Neera Tanden can be confirmed by the Senate after spending years attacking GOP lawmakers on social media – and many have made the choice.

Republican Senator from Arkansas, Tom Cotton, claimed Tanden’s rhetoric was “filled with hatred and guided by the awakened left.”

Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn said Tanden’s “combative and insulting comments” about Republican senators “certainly created a problematic path.” He called her “perhaps (Biden’s) worst candidate to date” and “radioactive.”

Potential Budget Committee chair Lindsey Graham, RS.C., was less hostile, telling reporters: “Let’s see what happens.” Moderate Susan Collins, R-Maine, a target of Tanden, said, “I don’t know her or a lot of her, but I’ve heard that she is a very prolific Twitter user.”

Such sentiment is remarkable given the GOP’s general reluctance to criticize President Donald Trump’s sides on Twitter. But like all of Biden’s candidates, Tanden has little margin for error as she faces confirmation in a tightly divided Senate.

This could be particularly disheartening for Tanden, former advisor to Hillary Clinton and chair of the center-left Center for American Progress, given her history of political struggle.

Biden’s transition team has released a litany of praise for Tanden from figures including Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams.

Other Democrats have also rushed to defend Tanden’s nomination. Former Obama assistant Valerie Jarrett said Tanden “grew up on welfare and lived in social housing. She experienced first-hand the importance of our social programs. His extraordinary career has been dedicated to improving opportunities for working families. She is an excellent choice to lead the OMB.

“Neera Tanden is smart, experienced and qualified for the post of director of OMB,” added Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, a member of the party’s progressive wing. “The American people voted decisively for change – Mitch McConnell shouldn’t stop us from having a functioning government that gets to work for the people we serve.

In the Senate, Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said it was impossible to take Republicans’ criticism of Tanden seriously.

“Honestly, the hypocrisy is astounding. If Republicans are concerned about criticism on Twitter, their complaints are best directed at President Trump, ”Schumer said.

At the OMB, Tanden would be tasked with preparing Biden’s budget presentation and would commission several hundred budget analysts, economists and policy advisers with in-depth knowledge of the inner workings of government.

If Democrats were to win the second round of elections for the two Senate seats held by the GOP in Georgia, Tanden’s job would become extremely important as the party would win a narrow majority in the chamber. This would allow them to pass special budget legislation that could roll back Trump’s tax cuts, strengthen the Affordable Care Act, and pursue other spending targets. The OMB would have a central role in such legislation.

Top Democrats, including Biden, backed anti-deficit packages earlier in their careers, but the party has since changed. Biden was a force behind the creation of the Obama Deficit Commission, which was created to win votes from moderate Democrats to push through an increase in the government’s borrowing cap and was chaired by the former chief of Clinton’s cabinet in the White House, Erskine Bowles.

Tanden shares the common view of Democratic lawmakers that Republicans generally express concern about deficits only when Democrats are in power, pointing to tax cut plans passed in the opening year of the Trump administration and former President George W. Bush’s 2001 tax cut.

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Taylor reported from Washington.