Democrat Joe Manchin tanks Biden's OMB pick Neera Tanden
0Democratic U.S. Senator Joe Manchin announced on Friday that he would oppose Neera Tanden, President Joe Biden's pick to run the White House budget office, citing the 'toxic' impact of her tweets insulting fellow lawmakers.The move could sink her nomination unless Biden can find a Republican to support Tanden, who Manchin faulted for overly partisan statements. It was the first major party defection of the young Biden administration, although it notably came from a centrist lawmaker who voted with his party on convicting Trump of inciting the Capitol riot and plans to vote for Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill. Tanden is Biden's choice to to head the Office of Management and Budget, a policy post that touches on nearly every aspect of major policy.Her nomination had been considered on the rocks had Republicans kept control of the Senate. But in the Democratic-run 50-50 chamber, she had a decent chance to survive confirmation problems. Biden told reporters as he returned to Washington from a trip to Michigan he was not pulling her nomination. 'I think we are going to find the votes and get her confirmed,' he said. Tanden has been criticized by Republicans over her past harsh comments on social media, such as calling Mitch McConnell, the party's leader in the Senate, 'Moscow Mitch' and saying 'vampires have more heart than (Senator) Ted Cruz.' 'I have carefully reviewed Neera Tanden's public statements and tweets that were personally directed towards my colleagues on both sides of the aisle from Senator Sanders to Senator McConnell and others,' Manchin said in a statement. 'I believe her overtly partisan statements will have a toxic and detrimental impact on the important working relationship between members of Congress and the next director of the Office of Management and Budget,' he said. Many Democrats scoffed at such concerns, noting near-unanimous Republican support for former President Donald Trump, who was accused of inciting a deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol partly via inflammatory comments on Twitter and was known for blasting those he saw as opponents - particularly women - as 'nasty' or criminals who should be locked up.Manchin cited Tanden's 'public statements and tweets' in his statement. If every Senate Democrat supported Tanden, she could have been confirmed without Republican votes since Democrats control 50 seats in the chamber and Vice President Kamala Harris can break a tie. Share this article Share However, Manchin's opposition means Tanden must be supported by a least one Republican to be confirmed. Tanden has a limited number of Republicans who might bail out her nomination. Just seven GOP senators voted to convict President Trump in his impeachment trial.She may have already burned a bridge with one relative GOP centrist she might ordinarily turn to, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.'Susan Collins' terrible treatment of Dr. Ford should haunt Collins the rest of her days,' Tanden tweeted during the cont