White House budget chief nominee Neera Tanden withdraws nomination

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday withdrew the nomination of Neera Tanden to be his budget director, in the first Capitol Hill rebuff of one of his nominees, after her selection ran into stiff opposition over tweets that upset lawmakers.

"I have accepted Neera Tanden’s request to withdraw her name from nomination for director of the Office of Management and Budget," Biden said in a short statement on Tuesday.

Tanden, who would have been the first woman of color to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), faced scrutiny over mean tweets she had written about Republicans and progressive Democrats alike in her previous role heading the Center for American Progress think tank.

Tanden is Biden's first Cabinet nominee to be withdrawn from consideration, making this an early blow for the president.

The White House spent the past two weeks insisting there was a path to confirmation for Tanden and vowed to fight for her, even as her prospects dimmed.

Tanden is expected to be appointed to an administration role that does not require Senate confirmation.

A handful of names have circulated as potential replacements for Tanden. Shalanda Young, who on Wednesday underwent a confirmation hearing to be the deputy OMB director, is seen as the most likely nominee.

Tanden's nomination was in doubt after three senators — Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia, and Mitt Romney, R-Utah, and Maine Republican Susan Collins — said would vote against her because of her history criticizing lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle.

That criticism was archived in the more than 1,000 tweets that Tanden reportedly deleted before the confirmation process began.