Neera Tanden withdraws nomination in first defeat for Biden pick

By Nikhila Natarajan New York, March 3 : After weeks of cliffhanger politics, US President Joe Biden’s choice to head the Office of Management and Budget, Neera Tanden, pulled her nomination marking the first big defeat for a Biden – Harris Cabinet nominee.
“Unfortunately, it now seems clear that there is no path forward to gain confirmation, and I do not want continued consideration of my nomination to be a distraction from your other priorities,” Tanden wrote in a letter to Biden, which was released by the White House.
By now, 11 out of 23 nominees have been confirmed. Tanden’s nomination slid into dangerous territory moments after her name was announced, weeks ago. Tanden’s Twitter rants from the past effectively sunk her chances as lawmakers who were attacked by Tanden for years on social media hit back hard.
Although Vice President Kamala Harris holds the tie breaking vote, multiple kingmakers are now flexing muscle and settling old scores in a 50-50 Senate.
When it came down to the wire, it wasn’t about Kamala Harris. It was about a senator from Alaska. Until Tuesday morning, the White House was pinning its hopes on Lisa Murkowski before Tanden put an end to the weeks-long drama, which erupted from the Democratic side.
The first shock came when Democratic West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin came out against Tanden last month, citing her tweets attacking members of both parties prior to her nomination.