On Friday, Senator Joe Manchin (DW.Va.) came out in opposition to Tanden’s nomination, citing her earlier tweets attacking lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. Two major Republicans in the Senate followed suit.
In the White House, it did not go unnoticed that many of the lawmakers who objected to Tanden’s social media missives – including Manchin – voted to confirm Richard Grenell, the biting Trump booster, for the post of U.S. Ambassador to Germany. Democrats on and off the hill also argued that Tanden, who is of South Asian descent, was one of many nominees of color treated differently from Trump-era nominees who dropped personal attacks or expressed bigotry views.
“We can’t agree with her tweets, but in the past, Trump nominees who she confirmed and supported had far more serious problems and conflicts than just something written on Twitter,” said Rep. Grace Meng (DN.Y.) in an interview after tweeting frustrated about Manchin’s reported hesitation about some nominations. “This isn’t just about a nominee like Neera, or anyone else – it’s just about this pattern emerging and getting harder to ignore.”
A fixture in democratic politics, Teeth has become an outsized figure online in recent years, as she targeted targeted, personal and often extensive Twitter criticism against opponents from the left and right, including sitting senators. For that reason, her nomination to the OMB post posed clear risks, even as the Democrats gained control of the Senate.
Her supporters now say and note that her social media presence is being used as a cover up by her opponents she apologized, deleted, and took ownership of her tweets. And Democrats argue that after the Trump years, there is little justification for letting anyone’s online behavior serve as a disqualifier. They point not only to the former president’s acerbic social media presence and repeated attacks on lawmakers of color, but also to Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s behavior during his Supreme Court. Confirmation Hearing and Confirmation of Former Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) as Attorney General decades after he lost a bid for a federal judge about allegations of racism.
Kavanaugh “went mad at the senatorial hearing,” said Ilyse Hogue, outgoing chair of the abortion rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America. They say Neera cannot be confirmed due to the tone of her tweets. It feels paper thin to me and certainly another standard for how they expect women to speak versus the men they voted for. “
It’s not just Tanden’s nomination that brings up complaints about sexism and racial prejudice. White House officials and those who have served on the transition note that several of Biden’s colored nominees have seen their nominations run slowly in the Senate or have already been relatively more heavily criticized than the whites standing in the highest administrative positions.
Republicans are currently pressing hard on former California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, Biden’s choice to lead the Heath and Human Services division, citing his views on expanding health care and access to abortion for unauthorized immigrants. They also claim that Becerra, whose mother immigrated from Guadalajara and father grew up in Tijuana, Mexico, is inferior because he is not a doctor himself. Trump’s health secretary Alex Azar was not a doctor.
Biden’s Homeland Security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, was confirmed in a largely party-line vote earlier this month. Mayorkas, the first Latino and immigrant to serve in his post, had previously been confirmed by the Senate three times. But his confirmation of this relaunch has been the smallest of all margins for Biden nominees so far.
Deb Haaland, nominated for Home Affairs, could soon face even more opposition. Republicans have accused the potential first Native American to lead the department of being “radical,” noting its support for progressive environmental policies and opposition to new oil and gas drilling on federal land. Manchin, who is leading Haaland’s confirmation hearing on Tuesday, has said he still remains undecided on her nomination, as do the others – indecision leading to a sharp rebuke and a suggestion of bias from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DN.Y. ).
Manchin’s office declined to comment. But in an interview earlier in the day, he noted that he had spoken to Tanden on Monday and would still be against her.
“I’m all for duality. Really. I told her this isn’t personal at all,” said Manchin. There is a time when the bipartisanship begins. We’ll see what happens on the other side. ‘
Derrick Johnson, president of the civil rights group NAACP, said that as the nominees approached their confirmation votes, it would “become clear whether those individuals who are women or people of color will receive another level of criticism.”
“I hope we will correct course soon and not allow this to be a Senate legacy,” Johnson added.
Democrats fear even more colored nominees could be in trouble soon, including civil rights attorney Kristen Clarke, the candidate for assistant attorney general in the civil rights division of the DOJ, and Vanita Gupta, Biden’s candidate for associate attorney general. Gupta was the subject of a recently launched ad campaign by conservative groups, who accused her of “wanting to release convicts from prison” and “reducing sentences for white supremacists.” The other target of the groups was Becerra. A third ad they posted accused the Biden government of welcoming dark money.
“Vanita Gupta wants to defend the police, and instead of tackling that extremely dangerous position, her liberal defenders are making cartoonish claims to avoid the problems,” said Carrie Severino, president of the Judicial Crisis Network, one of the sponsors. . the ads. Gupta has not called for the police to be defunded.
Janet Murguía, the president and chief executive of Latino advocacy group UnidosUS, said she had a phone call with her team Monday morning, where the issue of Biden’s cabinet choices over roadblocks sparked a lengthy conversation and growing alarm.
“It was incredibly disturbing to see a pattern or trend emerging where people of color and women seem to be at the bottom of the list in terms of hearings and finalizing their confirmations,” Murguía said in an interview. “It is very insulting to see this drag going on when we have such an incredible need to put these different leaders in these different agencies.”
“Blocking these nominations, regardless of which party, does not look good and raises a lot of questions about why,” she added.
Senator Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) asked the same question on Monday when she named Tanden, Haaland and Becerra as nominees “who were more heavily investigated”.
“There seems to be a pattern here,” said Hirono. She added that if Tanden’s nomination eventually falls, Biden’s candidate for US Trade Representative, Katherine Tai, would be the “only Asian woman in the cabinet.”
And nobody knows who [the] sales representative, ”she said.
Burgess Everett and Meridith McGraw contributed to the reporting.