Indian-American Neera Tandon, nominated by US President Joe Biden as director of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, is facing a challenge to the Senate to confirm her appointment as Democratic Party Senator Joe Manchin faces her nomination. He has announced to vote against.
Manchin’s announcement implies that the confirmation of the appointment of Tandon, now 50, is largely dependent on the support of a Republican senator. Manchin is a senator from West Virginia and is considered a liberal Democrat. He said, “I believe that her (Tandon’s) one-sided statement openly will have a bitter and detrimental effect on the important work between the members of Congress and the management and budget office.” He further said, ‘Because of this I will not support her nomination. I had also said earlier that we should take meaningful steps to remove the political divide and inaction that has entered our politics. It is notable that the Republican and Democratic Party have equal members in the 100-member Senate. The tilt of support from Vice President Kamala Harris’s vote is expected to favor the Democratic Party.
In such a situation, the importance of Manchin’s vote increases and his decision will be enough for the Republican Party, which is opposing Tandon’s nomination. Tandon had previously called Mitch McConnell, the leader of the minority in the Senate, a ‘waldmort’ (villainous character), and his fight with Senator Bernie Sanders and his supporters is also taking place on online forums. Biden said on Friday that he had enough votes to confirm the appointment of Neera Tandon.
About 50-year-old Neera Tandon, an Indian-American nominated for budget director in the Joe Biden administration, White House Press Secretary Jane Saki had previously said “Neera Tandon is an accomplished policy expert who will be an outstanding budget director.” We want to work to confirm his appointment through talks with both parties next week. ‘ If Neera Tandon is appointed to this post, she will be the first black and Indian-origin woman to head the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). In the US, the position of budget director is very important. Voting on Neera’s appointment to the Senate Budget Committee will take place next week.
