White House Photo via Wikimedia Creative Commons
Asian American groups are rallying behind Neera Tanden in her difficult confirmation battle to head the Office of Management and Budget.
The American Bazaar reports President Biden has vowed to keep fighting for his nominee amidst concerns that her past relations with Congress could hurt his efforts for bipartisanship.
“The President nominated Neera Tanden because she is qualified, because she is experienced, because she has a record of working with people who agree with her and disagree with her,” Biden’s spokesperson Jen Psaki said.
Tanden currently heads the Center for American progress and has written biting and caustic tweets about members of Congress on both sides of the aisle. She has since apologized publicly for those tweets, but has lost the support of at least one Democrat-conservative Sen. Joe Manchen (D-W VA). Republican swing voters Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Susan Colins (R-ME) have both said they will vote against her confirmation, according to NPR.
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On Monday, she is expected to meet with a key Republican, reported CNN.
“She is being held to a much higher standard, even though nobody disputes her background and qualifications to be OMB director,” Shekar Narasimhan, AAPI Victory Fund chair, said, according to the American Bazaar.
“It is incredibly frustrating to watch because we are talking about individuals who are preeminently qualified, but also coming from communities that have been screaming at the top of their lungs to be visible and valued by this country,” Gregg Orton, national director of the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, said.
The hashtags #IStandwithNeera and #YESNeera reached 77 million people, according to the AAPI Victory fund.
South Asians for Biden also is pushing Tanden’s nomination as well as Vivek Murthy for Surgeon General. Murthy, who held the same position in the Obama adminstration, is being accused of conflict of interest for receiving millions of dollars from private companies as a coronavirus consultant.
“We urge both Republicans and Democrats U.S. Senators to appreciate their qualifications & also acknowledge the significance of their nominations and support them,” the group said to the American Bazaar.
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