WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH), Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, issued the following statement on Neera Tanden, nominee to be Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB):
“When President Biden announced his intention to nominate Ms. Tanden as OMB Director, I expressed concern and urged him to reconsider. As a former OMB Director, I know that the OMB Director has to be able to work productively with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle. I believe that the tone, the content, and the aggressive partisanship of some of Ms. Tanden’s public statements will make it more difficult for her to work effectively with both parties in this role. I’m also concerned about her decision to delete thousands of tweets in the month after the election and the lack of transparency in her decision to do so, as well as her lack of experience on key issues for OMB, such as the regulatory and budgeting processes. While the president has the right to choose his own Cabinet, and thus far I have supported all of this administration’s nominees, I will not be supporting the confirmation of Ms. Tanden.”
NOTE: As a former OMB Director under President George W. Bush, Senator Portman understands the importance of the role and the importance of working productively both within the administration and across the agencies, but also with members of Congress, on a bipartisan basis. At the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on the nomination of Neera Tanden to be Director of the OMB, Portman called for the administration to work in a bipartisan manner to address the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, growing cybersecurity threats as demonstrated by the SolarWinds attack, and continuing the bipartisan work on federal permitting and regulatory processes.