Biden to name Neera Tanden as budget director: Report

President-elect Joe Biden will reportedly tap Neera Tanden to be the director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Tanden is currently the president and CEO of the Center for American Progress, a liberal Washington think tank. As director of OBM, Tanden will work alongside treasury secretary nominee Janet Yellen to address the economic situation brought on by the coronavirus, including the millions of people who are currently unemployed. Tanden would be the first woman of color and the first South Asian woman to direct the OBM.

During the Obama administration, Tanden helped craft the Affordable Care Act. She is also a former adviser to Hillary Clinton and has been critical of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and the Democratic Party’s more left-leaning members. Tanden attended a number of previously undisclosed Democratic dinners organized by longtime Democratic donor Bernard Schwartz with attendees “from the moderate or center-left wing of the party,” according to the New York Times.

Following the announcement, Tanden’s ties to Clinton, past international policy positions, and statements she made regarding the coronavirus resurfaced on the internet and drew criticism from the Left, who cited concerns of “revolving-door moves between industry and government,” according to the Wall Street Journal.

Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris are expected to announce Tanden’s role and a number of other top economic picks on Tuesday from Wilmington, Delaware. The Wall Street Journal reported that he is also expected to pick Cecilia Rouse, a labor economist from Princeton University, to oversee the Council of Economic Advisers. According to the outlet, he will tap Adewale Adeyemo, a former senior international economic adviser during the Obama administration, to be Yellen’s deputy.

Despite President Trump declining to concede amid a slew of lawsuits, Biden has pushed forward with picking his White House inner circle.

Earlier this month, Biden tapped longtime confidant Ron Klain as his chief of staff. Klain previously was chief of staff for the first two years of Biden’s vice presidency. Jen O’Malley Dillon, his campaign manager, will be his deputy chief of staff.