Budget Nominee, Tanden Grilled from Both Sides at Hearing

President Joe Biden’s nominee to head the U.S. Office of Management and Budget was skewered during Wednesday’s hearing. Neera Tanden went through arduous questioning from the right and left at a second confirmation hearing.

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders questioned Tanden scrupulously about millions of dollars. Those were donations to the Center for American Progress (CAP), where she is chief executive.

The CAP organization has received money from some of the most powerful special interests in their country. This was a statement from the liberal senator, an independent who caucuses with Democrats.

Tanden said those contributions would have zero impact on her decision making.

The Office of Management and Budget serves as a guard for the $4 trillion federal budget.

The Budget Committee is the second of two to hold hearings on Biden’s budget nominee. On Tuesday, Tanden appeared before the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

She addressed a wide range of issues, such as pledging to back an increase in the minimum wage. She also insisted that U.S. economic growth will not return to pre-pandemic levels for years without additional fiscal stimulus.

Republicans were still focusing on Tanden’s past harsh comments on social media. She has called Republican leader Mitch McConnell “Moscow Mitch”.Senator Lindsey Graham (NYSE:GHM), the committee’s ranking Republican said, this is not the unifying pick that she was looking for. 

Democrats Have Pushed Back

The confirmation hearing transpired on the second day of former Republican President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.  Trump was charged with inciting the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. That was partly via his inflammatory comments on Twitter.

Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow noted that they’d endured four years of the ultimate mean tweets.

Moreover, Sanders noted that Tanden backed his rival Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic presidential race. He said Tanden has also clashed with the left. 

He said there were vicious attacks against progressives, his former colleague, and him personally, he adds. Tanden said she recognized the harm her words had done and apologized to people on either the left or right. Those hurt by what she has said, she added.

Sanders did not say, though, whether he would back Tanden.

Her confirmation is still possible without the support of Republicans. This is possible because Vice President Kamala Harris can break a tie in the 100-member Senate. However, only with unanimous support from the Democratic caucus.