Batten’s David Leblang, professor of politics and public policy and director of the Global Policy Center, spoke to Newsweek about potential candidates under consideration to take Tanden’s place as the president’s initial pick for OMB director seems increasingly unlikely to gain enough Senate votes.
Neera Tanden confirmation, the president’s initial pick for director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), seems increasingly unlikely to gain enough Senate votes.
While the White House has said they have no intention of withdrawing Tanden’s nomination, officials are looking for a fallback and are expected to move quickly after the vote.
The nonpartisan OMB plays a vital role in estimating the cost of any piece of legislation and will be crucial in terms of getting policies through Congress—all of which could be held up if President Joe Biden fails to confirm a director to lead the agency.
Few were surprised that Democratic Senator Joe Manchin announced he would vote against her confirmation, essentially opening the floodgates for others and giving his party someone to point to if critics complained that Democrats voted along party lines to approve all of Biden’s Cabinet-level picks.
Shortly after, Republican Senators Mitt Romney and Susan Collins also announced that they would vote against Tanden, making it difficult for Biden to secure the one GOP senator he would need to bring Tanden’s confirmation vote back up to 50-50.
Ann O’Leary, who had originally been floated as a potential alternative to Tanden in November, is once again being considered for the position. She served as California Governor Gavin Newsom‘s chief of staff up until late December, but some say her former role may present the White House with another challenging confirmation hearing.
David Leblang, a professor of politics and public policy at the University of Virginia, told Newsweek that O’Leary “would suffer in a confirmation hearing because of her tie to Newsom. Even though she left in December, I think that’s still the stamp she will be carrying for a bit. The Republicans are out for whatever sort of help they can acquire during these confirmation hearings, so I think that might be a pretty easy one for them to just attack in terms of California’s management of a series of things.”
