Two Senate committees postponed the Wednesday hearing for President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Office of Management and Budget Neera Tanden, suggesting she may not have the votes to be approved.
The Senate Homeland Security Committee postponed a morning meeting where the nomination was going to be discussed. They provided no further information.
The Senate Budget Committee sent a notice to members that it had postponed “the previously scheduled executive business meeting of the committee on the budget,” which noted that the panel had planned to consider Tanden’s nomination during the meeting.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki indicated Biden continues to stand by Tanden’s nomination.
“Neera Tanden is a leading policy expert who brings critical qualifications to the table during this time of unprecedented crisis,” she wrote on Twitter.
A congressional aide with the Homeland Security committee told Reuters the meeting was postponed “because members need more time to consider the nominee.”
Biden “deserves to have a team in place that he wants, and we’re going to work with our members to figure out the best path forward,” the aide said.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Susan Cornwell; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Heather Timmons and Jonathan Oatis)
