KEY VOTE: “NO” on the confirmation of Neera Tanden

The Senate is soon expected to vote on the confirmation of Neera Tanden to be Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). President Biden announced on November 30, 2020, that he would nominate Tanden to the post. She previously served as a senior adviser to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and currently serves as President and CEO of the Center for American Progress (CAP).

As Director of OMB, Tanden would be responsible for coordinating the President’s policy agenda across the entire executive branch and overseeing the production and enactment of the Biden Administration’s yearly budget proposal. Additionally, she would also be tasked with analyzing and reviewing regulations proposed by all departments and agencies across the administration. While OMB coordinates the President’s strategy and vision across the entirety of the executive branch, it does not typically receive the type of attention that other Cabinet posts do. This limited scrutiny, combined with OMB’s reach, makes it essential that the Senate exercise its responsibility to provide advice and consent on the Director’s nomination to ensure competent governance.

Tanden’s background and previous policy positions raise serious doubt about whether the Senate should allow her to wield power over all executive branch departments and agencies. Notably, she has spent most of her career developing and advocating for a government takeover of healthcare and the establishment of a public option. In a 2017 USA Today op-ed, Tanden wrote, “...we do need more insurance competition and that’s why there should be a public option for insurance.” While Democrats have billed a public option as a moderate proposal compared to their proposed Medicare-for-All plan, it is actually a trojan horse, with an intended end-game of creating a single-payer healthcare system.

The Heritage Foundation has pointed this out on numerous occasions:

Given the underlying economic and political dynamics of these public option proposals, the results are predictable: a collapse of choice and competition in the health insurance markets, more costs shifted onto taxpayers and providers, and the erosion and elimination of private health care alternatives for patients and their families.

As Director of OMB, Tanden will also have oversight of the President’s budget proposal, which will ultimately influence the shape of the federal budget and spending. While Congress writes the yearly budget, the administration’s proposal will serve as an important marker that Democrats will strive to implement. Tanden’s track record suggests that she will use the budget process to push a left-wing wishlist of policies like a public option for health insurance. During her time as President and CEO, CAP supported amnesty for millions of illegal aliens, dangerous cuts to defense spending, and dozens of other radical proposals. Her review of federal regulations will also be informed and influenced by this point of view.

Neera Tanden’s support for far-left policies and bureaucratic governance disqualifies her to run OMB and oversee the entirety of the executive branch. Her nomination is another sign that President Biden’s talk about seeking bipartisanship and unity is just that - talk. Senators should reject Neera Tanden for this post.

Related:

The Heritage Foundation: Public Option Health Plans Haven’t Lowered Premiums

The Heritage Foundation: Biden’s Health Care Plans Would Be a Road to a System That Kills Private Insurance