President Biden’s nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Neera Tanden, saw another setback to her confirmation on Monday. GOP Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) will oppose Tanden’s nomination, which already faced a steep approval challenge. Romney joins GOP Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and Democrat Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), all of whom are viewed as “swing votes,” in opposing her confirmation. Tanden’s nomination is plagued by her past statements about GOP lawmakers on Twitter, which she has since deleted, despite committing to civility and transparency.
"Senator Romney has been critical of extreme rhetoric from prior nominees, and this is consistent with that position," a spokesperson for the Utah Republican said. "He believes it’s hard to return to comity and respect with a nominee who has issued a thousand mean tweets.”
Spox adds that Romney is a NO. That means getting to 50 votes is becoming extremely hard with Manchin, Romney and Collins all coming out against Tanden
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 22, 2021
All three lawmakers took issue with Tanden's toxic rhetoric. Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) has not yet indicated how she will vote. The White House is standing by Tanden’s nomination, despite her confirmation being in severe jeopardy.
Neera Tanden=accomplished policy expert, would be 1st Asian American woman to lead OMB, has lived experience having benefitted from a number of federal programs as a kid, looking ahead to the committee votes this week and continuing to work toward her confirmation
— Jen Psaki (@PressSec) February 22, 2021