After Cabinet Withdrawal, Indian American Neera Tanden Lands White House Job as Senior Adviser

Neera Tanden seen testifying during a Senate Committee on the Budget hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on Feb. 10, 2021. (Andrew Harnik/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s lone Cabinet choice who was rebuffed by Congress has landed a job as a White House senior adviser.

Neera Tanden had been Biden’s pick to lead the Office of Management and Budget but withdrew her nomination in March after it was clear that she would not garner enough Republican support to be confirmed. Several GOP senators objected to her previous tweeted criticisms of her political rivals.

Tanden will now be a senior advisor to Biden, the White House said May 14. She will launch a review of the US Digital Service and begin planning for possible policy changes that could result from the forthcoming Supreme Court decision on GOP legal challenges to the Affordable Care Act. Tanden worked in former President Barack Obama’s administration as the act was designed and implemented.

Tanden, a close ally of White House chief of staff Ron Klain, will depart the think tank Center for American Progress. Its founder, John Podesta, said that “Neera’s intellect, tenacity, and political savvy will be an asset to the Biden administration.”

The Indian American’s hire was first reported by CNN.

ANI reports: Podesta added, “While we will be sorry to lose her considerable policy expertise and leadership at the Center for American Progress—an organization which we founded together in 2003—I am exceptionally thrilled to see her step into a new position serving this White House and the American people.” He further said that many of the policy solutions under the Biden administration were developed and led by Tanden at CAP over many years.

“The administration’s efforts will be magnified with Neera Tanden on the team, and I am excited to see what she will achieve in the role of senior adviser and in the years to come,” he added.

Tanden serves as president and CEO of CAP and has served as the CEO of the Center for American Progress Action Fund.