Neera Tanden (born September 10, 1970) is an American
political consultant and government official who has been a
senior advisor and
staff secretary to President
Joe Biden since 2021. Tanden previously served as president of the
Center for American Progress
The Center for American Progress (CAP) is a public policy research and advocacy organization which presents a liberal viewpoint on economic and social issues. It has its headquarters in Washington, D.C.
The president and chief executive offic ...
(CAP), a liberal policy research and advocacy organization, where she worked in different capacities since its founding in 2003.
Tanden has worked on several
Democratic presidential campaigns, including those of
Michael Dukakis
Michael Stanley Dukakis (; born November 3, 1933) is an American retired lawyer and politician who served as governor of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979 and again from 1983 to 1991. He is the longest-serving governor in Massachusetts history ...
in
1988,
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...
in
1992
File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engin ...
, and
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
in
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
. Tanden was a senior staffer to
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
during
her 2000 election to a United States Senate seat in New York, and during
Clinton's tenure as a Senator. Tanden advised Clinton during her run for the
2008 Democratic nomination, and later helped her defeat
Bernie Sanders
Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 20 ...
to win the
nomination in 2016, and run against
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
in the
2016 general election. In her government service with the Obama administration, Tanden helped draft the
Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Pres ...
(ACA).
In November 2020, then
President-elect Joe Biden announced he would nominate Tanden as
Office of Management and Budget
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...
(OMB) director. However, Tanden asked for the nomination to be withdrawn after Senator
Joe Manchin
Joseph Manchin III (born August 24, 1947) is an American politician and businessman serving as the senior United States senator from West Virginia, a seat he has held since 2010. A member of the Democratic Party, Manchin was the 34th governor o ...
announced that he would not vote in favor of confirmation. In May 2021, Tanden was appointed as a
senior advisor to the president, and was later named as
White House Staff Secretary
The Staff Secretary ("Staff Sec") is a position in the White House Office responsible for managing paper flow to the President and circulating documents among senior staff for comment. It has been referred to as "the nerve center of the White ...
in October 2021.
Early life and education
Neera Tanden was born on September 10, 1970, in
Bedford
Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst t ...
,
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
,
to immigrant parents from
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
.
She has a brother, Raj. Her parents divorced when she was five, after which Tanden's mother, Maya, was on welfare for nearly two years before obtaining a job as a
travel agent
A travel agency is a private retailer or public service that provides travel and tourism-related services to the general public on behalf of accommodation or travel suppliers to offer different kinds of travelling packages for each destinati ...
.
When she was nominated to lead the OMB in 2020, Tanden stated she was "mindful that my path in life would never have been possible without budgetary choices that reflected our nation’s values".
Tanden received a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
degree from the
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the Californ ...
, in 1992
and graduated from
Yale Law School
Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & World ...
with a
Juris Doctor
The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law
and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...
in 1996. At Yale Law School, she was submissions editor for the ''
Yale Law & Policy Review
The ''Yale Law & Policy Review'' is a biannual student-run law review at the Yale Law School covering the intersection of law and policy. Past contributors include Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, John Paul Stevens, and Clarence Thomas ...
''.
As a freshman at the University of California, Los Angeles, Tanden met her future husband, artist
Benjamin Edwards.
Edwards and Tanden both volunteered on
Michael Dukakis's unsuccessful run for President in 1988. Tanden worked as a precinct leader in the
Bel Air district of
West Los Angeles
West Los Angeles is an area within the city of Los Angeles, California. The residential and commercial neighborhood is divided by the Interstate 405 freeway, and each side is sometimes treated as a distinct neighborhood, mapped differently by di ...
where many households had already contributed to the
Dukakis campaign.
Career
Tanden has worked on domestic policy on
Capitol Hill
Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...
, in
think tank
A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-govern ...
s, and for various
Democratic senatorial and presidential campaigns.
Work with the Clintons
Tanden has been regarded as a Clinton loyalist
and personal friend of Hillary Clinton, whose professional life has been significantly defined by her work with the Clintons.
The New Republic has described Tanden as Hillary Clinton's closest policy adviser.
She worked with President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...
's campaign on new energy policies, and health-care reform, as associate director for domestic policy in the Clinton White House,
and as a domestic policy advisor in the
First Lady's Office.
In 2016,
Bruce Reed, a Democratic political operative, said Tanden played a role in implementing Clinton's welfare reform bill, the
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act, signed in 1996.
Tanden denied the claim and in response posted a screenshot of what she claimed was an email from Reed.
In 1999 and 2000, Tanden was deputy campaign manager and policy director for
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
during her successful
senatorial campaign in New York. After the election, Tanden served as
Senator Clinton's legislative director from 2003 to 2005.
Tanden was Hillary Clinton's policy director for Clinton's unsuccessful bid for the 2008
Democratic presidential nomination.
In a 2019 article, the ''New York Times'' cited a source claiming that Tanden punched
ThinkProgress
''ThinkProgress'' was an American progressive news website that was active from 2005 to 2019. It was a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAP Action), a progressive public policy research and advocacy organization. Founded ...
website editor and future
Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign
The 2020 presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders was an election campaign from the junior United States senator and former representative from Vermont. It began with Sanders's formal announcement on February 19, 2019. The announcement followe ...
manager
Faiz Shakir
Faiz Shakir (; born 1979) is an American Democratic political advisor. He serves as senior advisor to Bernie Sanders and executive director of the nonprofit media organization ''More Perfect Union''. Previously, he was campaign manager for Bern ...
in the chest for asking Clinton about her
Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
vote. Tanden later insisted that she had not "slugged" him but had pushed him.
[
Tanden was an unpaid adviser to Clinton's successful 2016 primary season nomination campaign and unsuccessful general election campaign in opposition to Republican candidate ]Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
, while also running the Center for American Progress. After Hillary Clinton secured the Democratic nomination for president in 2016, Tanden was named to her transition team. Tanden was considered a candidate for a top White House job, had Clinton won the presidency.[
]
2008 Obama general election campaign
After Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
was nominated as the Democratic presidential candidate, Tanden was one of the first, and also one of the few former-Clinton campaign staffers to join his team. She was domestic policy director for his successful general election campaign.
Obama administration
Tanden served in the Obama administration
Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. A Democrat from Illinois, Obama took office following a decisive victory over Republican ...
as senior adviser to Secretary
A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a ...
Kathleen Sebelius
Kathleen Sebelius (; née Gilligan, born May 15, 1948) is an American businesswoman and politician who served as the 21st United States secretary of Health and Human Services from 2009 until 2014. As Secretary of Health and Human Services, Sebel ...
of the Department of Health and Human Services
The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...
. She helped to draft the administration's health care legislation, including work specific to its proposed, but later withdrawn, public option. She also negotiated with Congress and stakeholders on several provisions of the bill. She has been described as one of the "key architects" of the Affordable Care Act.
Center for American Progress
In 2003, Tanden had a central role in the founding of the Center for American Progress
The Center for American Progress (CAP) is a public policy research and advocacy organization which presents a liberal viewpoint on economic and social issues. It has its headquarters in Washington, D.C.
The president and chief executive offic ...
(CAP). Tanden worked as Senior Vice President for Domestic Policy, while also serving as Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and, starting in 2010, as Chief Operating Officer.
On November 1, 2011, Tanden succeeded John Podesta
John David Podesta Jr. (born January 8, 1949) is an American political consultant who has served as Senior Advisor to President Joe Biden for clean energy innovation and implementation since September 2022. Podesta previously served as White ...
as CAP's president and CEO.
In 2016, a hacker obtained access to Podesta's private emails, which included exchanges with Tanden. The emails were then published on WikiLeaks
WikiLeaks () is an international Nonprofit organization, non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous Source (journalism), sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activism, Internet acti ...
. In one exchange, on August 11, 2015, while discussing news that Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
law professor Lawrence Lessig
Lester Lawrence Lessig III (born June 3, 1961) is an American academic, attorney, and political activist. He is the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and the former director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard ...
was exploring a bid for the Democratic nomination, Tanden wrote of Lessig, "I fucking hate that guy." Lessig responded to the incident by saying that while he supported whistle blowing and a pardon of Edward Snowden
Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is an American and naturalized Russian former computer intelligence consultant who leaked highly classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) in 2013, when he was an employee and su ...
, Tanden should not have to be burdened with having her private emails scrutinized and that it was not in the public interest. Tanden called the release of her personal communications, which often feature her blunt private assessments, a painful experience to endure.
In 2016, blogger Matt Bruenig, a supporter of Bernie Sanders
Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 20 ...
, was fired from the think tank Demos
Demos may refer to:
Computing
* DEMOS, a Soviet Unix-like operating system
* DEMOS (ISP), the first internet service provider in the USSR
* Demos Commander, an Orthodox File Manager for Unix-like systems
* plural for Demo (computer programming)
...
after tweets that called Tanden and Joan Walsh
Joan Maureen Walsh (born September 18, 1958) is a liberal American political pundit and journalist. Walsh is national affairs correspondent for ''The Nation,'' and was previously an on-air political analyst at CNN and MSNBC. She produced the 202 ...
"geriatrics" and Tanden a "scumbag". Demos cited a past pattern of "online harassment of people with whom he disagrees" as the reason for his dismissal, but some commentators suggested Tanden was involved in his firing, allegations she denied.
After the 2016 election and Clinton's loss, Tanden refocused the work of the Center for American Progress, aiming to have the think tank, and especially its advocacy arm (the Center for American Progress Action Fund), serve as a "central hub for Trump resistance" as well as playing a leading role in shaping the healthcare debate within the Democratic Party. In 2020, the group promoted their "Medicare Extra for All" plan, made as a counter to Medicare for All
Single-payer healthcare is a type of universal healthcare in which the costs of essential healthcare for all residents are covered by a single public system (hence "single-payer").
Single-payer systems may contract for healthcare services from p ...
which, despite the name, did not call for as much coverage. The idea was widely panned by progressive activists, but largely formed the basis for the healthcare plan provided by Beto O'Rourke
Robert Francis "Beto" O'Rourke ( , ; ; born September 26, 1972) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2013 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, O'Rourke was the party's nominee for the U.S. Senat ...
's 2020 presidential campaign.
In 2018, following reports by ''BuzzFeed News
''BuzzFeed News'' is an American news website published by BuzzFeed. It has published a number of high-profile scoops, including the Steele dossier, for which it was heavily criticized, and the FinCEN Files. Since its establishment in 2011, it ...
'' of sexual harassment
Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions fro ...
allegations within CAP, Tanden revealed to a meeting of CAP's entire staff the first name of a CAP employee anonymously accusing a manager of sexual harassment, leading many people in the room to gasp and Tanden to apologize.
On April 28, 2020, Tanden was named to New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy
Philip Dunton Murphy (born August 16, 1957) is an American financier, diplomat, and politician serving as the 56th governor of New Jersey since January 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the United States ambassador to Germa ...
's Restart and Recovery Commission. The commission was tasked with preparing the state to reopen after its COVID-19 lockdown
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions colloquially known as lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar societal restrictions) have been implemented in numerous countrie ...
.
In 2021, after having been named a Biden advisor, Tanden stepped down from her leadership of CAP, with Patrick Gaspard
Patrick Hubert Gaspard (born 1967) is an American former diplomat who serves as president of Center for American Progress (CAP), a liberal think tank.
A noted Democratic Party leader and strategist, Gaspard served as executive director of the D ...
taking over her roles as president and CEO.[ ]
Office of Management and Budget nomination
On November 30, 2020, President-elect Joe Biden introduced Tanden as his nominee for Director of the Office of Management and Budget
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...
. Immediately afterwards, Tanden deleted over 1,000 of her previous tweets, and changed her Twitter bio from "progressive" to "liberal". During the confirmation hearing, Tanden apologized for several of her tweets attacking Republican senators, including tweets calling Susan Collins
Susan Margaret Collins (born December 7, 1952) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Maine. A member of the Republican Party, she has held her seat since 1997 and is Maine's longest-serving member of Co ...
"the worst", comparing Ted Cruz
Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas from ...
to vampire
A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...
s, and using the nickname "Moscow Mitch" for Mitch McConnell
Addison Mitchell McConnell III (born February 20, 1942) is an American politician and retired attorney serving as the senior United States senator from Kentucky and the Senate minority leader since 2021. Currently in his seventh term, McConne ...
and comparing him to Lord Voldemort
Lord Voldemort ( , in the films) is a sobriquet for Tom Marvolo Riddle, a character and the main antagonist in J. K. Rowling's series of ''Harry Potter'' novels. The character first appeared in ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' ...
. Senator John Cornyn
John Cornyn III ( ; born February 2, 1952) is an American politician and attorney serving as the senior United States senator from Texas, a seat he has held since 2002. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the Senate majority whip for ...
described Tanden as "radioactive" in contrast to other Biden nominees he felt were more acceptable. Senator John Kennedy stated that she "called Senator Sanders everything but an ignorant slut", a reference to a 1970s ''Saturday Night Live'' catch phrase. NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
described her as "Biden's most controversial Cabinet pick".
Many members of the 2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
and 2020 Bernie Sanders presidential campaigns, such as Briahna Joy Gray, strongly dislike Tanden and have drawn an explicit distinction between "progressives and Neera Tanden"; ''Politico
''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...
'' described her nomination as "the equivalent of rubbing salt in the wound".
In February 2021, Senator Joe Manchin
Joseph Manchin III (born August 24, 1947) is an American politician and businessman serving as the senior United States senator from West Virginia, a seat he has held since 2010. A member of the Democratic Party, Manchin was the 34th governor o ...
said he opposed her nomination due to "overtly partisan statements" in the past, putting her approval in doubt due to the 50–50 split in the Senate between both parties. Other senators, including Susan Collins
Susan Margaret Collins (born December 7, 1952) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Maine. A member of the Republican Party, she has held her seat since 1997 and is Maine's longest-serving member of Co ...
, Rob Portman
Robert Jones Portman (born December 19, 1955) is an American attorney and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from Ohio since 2011. A member of the Republican Party ...
, Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts f ...
, and Pat Toomey
Patrick Joseph Toomey Jr. (born November 17, 1961) is an American businessman and politician serving as the junior United States senator for Pennsylvania since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served three terms as the U.S. representat ...
said they would also vote against Tanden's nomination. Collins argued that Tanden's deletion of over 1,000 of her tweets "raises concerns about her commitment to transparency". Some senators remained undecided after meeting with Tanden, including Lisa Murkowski
Lisa Ann Murkowski ( ; born May 22, 1957) is an American attorney and politician serving as the senior United States senator for Alaska, having held that seat since 2002. Murkowski is the second-most senior Republican woman in the Senate, after S ...
, Bernie Sanders
Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 20 ...
, and Kyrsten Sinema
Kyrsten Lea Sinema (; born July 12, 1976) is an American politician and former social worker serving as the senior United States senator from Arizona since January 2019. A former member of the Democratic Party, Sinema became an independent in ...
. The Biden administration originally stood by her nomination publicly, but other candidates for the position began to be considered after Manchin's opposition became public. Conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt
Hugh Hewitt (born February 22, 1956) is an American radio talk show host with the Salem Radio Network and an attorney, academic, and author. A conservative, he writes about law, society, politics, and media bias in the United States. Hewitt is ...
asked Senate Republicans to forgive her and approve the nomination, but none indicated they would do so. Senate panels which were set to vote on her nomination postponed consideration.
On March 2, 2021, in response to a request from Tanden, the Biden administration withdrew Tanden's nomination to head the Office of Management and Budget. The White House also made public Tanden's explanation, which read in part, "Unfortunately, it now seems clear that there is no path forward to gain confirmation, and I do not want continued consideration of my nomination to be a distraction from your other priorities."[ President Biden said he had the “utmost respect” for Tanden and pledged he would find a role for her somewhere in his administration. On March 25, 2021, her nomination was officially withdrawn.
]
Senior Advisor to the President
Tanden was appointed as a senior advisor to President Biden on May 14, 2021. In this role, Tanden will plan for possible policy changes awaiting a Supreme Court decision on Republican challenges to Obamacare and will initiate a review of the United States Digital Service
The United States Digital Service is a technology unit housed within the Executive Office of the President of the United States. It provides consultation services to federal agencies on information technology. It seeks to improve and simplify dig ...
. According to analysis by ''Politico
''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...
'', Tanden may have more influence in the role of senior advisor than she would have had as OMB Director, as this role will allow her to be included in daily presidential briefings.
Staff secretary
In October 2021, Tanden was named President Biden's staff secretary, reporting to Ron Klain
Ronald Alan Klain ( ; born August 8, 1961) is an American attorney, political consultant, and former lobbyist serving as White House chief of staff under President Joe Biden. A Democrat, he was previously chief of staff to two vice presidents ...
. She will remain a senior advisor in the Biden White House.
Political views
Tanden has been described by ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' as a "progressive", by ''Business Insider
''Insider'', previously named ''Business Insider'' (''BI''), is an American financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Insider''s parent company Insider Inc. has been owned by the German publ ...
'' as a "centrist", and by '' Vox'' as "one of the more liberal members of Clintonland". She is regarded as a loyalist and confidante of Bill
Bill(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
* Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States)
* Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature
* Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer
* Bill, a bird or animal's beak
Plac ...
and Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
.[ She credits her experiences growing up relying on government assistance as the reason she has entered politics and the motivator of her career. She is known for her outspoken and prolific ]Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
presence, where she has criticized lawmakers both to her political left and right. Senator Bernie Sanders
Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 20 ...
wrote a letter in 2019 accusing Tanden of "maligning my staff and supporters and belittling progressive ideas".
In 2019, Tanden welcomed the arrest of WikiLeaks
WikiLeaks () is an international Nonprofit organization, non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous Source (journalism), sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activism, Internet acti ...
founder Julian Assange
Julian Paul Assange ( ; Hawkins; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. WikiLeaks came to international attention in 2010 when it published a series of leaks provided by U.S. Army inte ...
, accusing him of being "the agent of a proto fascist state, Russia, to undermine democracy."
Domestic policy
Much of Tanden's work relates to healthcare policy in America. She worked on the passage of the Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Pres ...
(ACA, or "Obamacare") during the Obama administration. Tanden supports a multi-payer universal healthcare
Universal health care (also called universal health coverage, universal coverage, or universal care) is a health care system in which all residents of a particular country or region are assured access to health care. It is generally organized ar ...
system, and opposes single-payer healthcare
Single-payer healthcare is a type of universal healthcare in which the costs of essential healthcare for all residents are covered by a single public system (hence "single-payer").
Single-payer systems may contract for healthcare services from ...
, including Medicare for All
Single-payer healthcare is a type of universal healthcare in which the costs of essential healthcare for all residents are covered by a single public system (hence "single-payer").
Single-payer systems may contract for healthcare services from p ...
proposals.
Tanden has argued that cuts to social welfare
Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet Basic needs, basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refe ...
programs, including cuts to Social Security
Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...
, Medicaid
Medicaid in the United States is a federal and state program that helps with healthcare costs for some people with limited income and resources. Medicaid also offers benefits not normally covered by Medicare, including nursing home care and pers ...
, and Medicare, should be considered as a part of long term deficit reduction. During her presidency, the Center for American Progress (CAP) has advocated for pegging periodic increases in Social Security benefits to the chained Consumer Price Index or ''chained CPI,'' which would regress the program to more austere accounting methods to help its beneficiaries keep pace with inflation
In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...
.
Tanden has been a critic of the policy proposals and supporters of U.S. Senator and former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders
Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 20 ...
. During the 2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries
Presidential primaries and caucuses were organized by the Democratic Party to select the 4,051 delegates to the 2016 Democratic National Convention held July 25–28 and determine the nominee for president in the 2016 United States presidential e ...
, she opposed Sanders's signature proposals of a $15 per hour minimum wage and single-payer healthcare
Single-payer healthcare is a type of universal healthcare in which the costs of essential healthcare for all residents are covered by a single public system (hence "single-payer").
Single-payer systems may contract for healthcare services from ...
. However, she expressed support for the Fight for $15
The Fight for $15 is an American political movement advocating for the minimum wage to be raised to USD$15
per hour. The federal minimum wage was last set at $7.25 per hour in 2009. The movement has involved strikes by child care, home health ...
movement in 2017. Tanden is a supporter of the labor movement
The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other.
* The trade union movement ...
, stating that a "strong labor movement motivates non-union businesses to provide their employees with salaries and benefits that are comparable to those of unionized workplaces."
Foreign policy
Tanden has been described as "hawkish". In September 2013, Tanden tweeted that "an unpoliced world is dangerous." The Center for American Progress has been described as having close ties to Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
and the United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
. In 2016, she met India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
's Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...
. Tanden has condemned Modi's government for anti-democratic actions and creating a climate of violence against Muslims in India.
Israel
In 2015, Tanden and CAP criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...
for engaging in what they called hyper-partisan activity during his trip to Washington, D.C., to lobby against the Obama-backed Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA; fa, برنامه جامع اقدام مشترک , barnāmeye jāme'e eqdāme moshtarak (, ''BARJAM'')), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal or Iran deal, is an agreement on the Iranian nuclear ...
. When Netanyahu visited D.C. again later in the year, he requested an audience before the left-leaning CAP. Tanden agreed to Netanyahu's request, saying it would be hypocritical to do otherwise, adding the event would include a question and answer segment between attendees and the prime minister. Tanden's decision drew harsh criticism from progressive organizations, many of whom said she was giving Netanyahu "legitimacy" by allowing him to speak before a group like CAP. Tandem responded by saying, "It was not an easy decision but at the end of the day we are a think tank. He's the leader of a country with which the US has a very strong relationship. There are issues we care about in Israel and the region. So we agreed to hold a forum."
She called the U.S. recognition of Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights in March 2019 as "a blatant political move" to benefit Netanyahu.
Libya
Before the U.S.–NATO bombing of Libya, Tanden tweeted her support for Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...
's removal.
In October 2011, Tanden said (in a private email made public by WikiLeaks
WikiLeaks () is an international Nonprofit organization, non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous Source (journalism), sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activism, Internet acti ...
) that the US had "a giant deficit" and it "doesn't seem crazy" to have "oil rich" nations such as Libya "partially pay he US
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
back" for intervention. Tanden said this would be preferable to cuts to Head Start, WIC
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is an American federal assistance program of the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for healthcare and nutritio ...
or Medicaid
Medicaid in the United States is a federal and state program that helps with healthcare costs for some people with limited income and resources. Medicaid also offers benefits not normally covered by Medicare, including nursing home care and pers ...
. Journalist Glenn Greenwald
Glenn Edward Greenwald (born March 6, 1967) is an American journalist, author and lawyer. In 2014, he cofounded ''The Intercept'', of which he was an editor until he resigned in October 2020. Greenwald subsequently started publishing on Substac ...
described Tanden's comments as similar to Donald Trump's statements on Iraq's national oil resources: "I say we should take it and pay ourselves back."
Syria
In September 2013, when President Obama was considering bombing Syria, Tanden tweeted: "On Syria, while I don't want to be the world's policeman, an unpoliced world is dangerous. The U.S. may be the only adult in the room left." Tanden said she opposed deploying U.S. soldiers to Syria.
Honors
*2012: Tanden was named one of the 25 "Most Influential Women in Washington" by ''National Journal
''National Journal'' is an advisory services company based in Washington, D.C., offering services in government affairs, advocacy communications, stakeholder mapping, and policy brands research for government and business leaders. It publishes da ...
''.
*2013: Tanden was named one of the "Most Powerful Women in Politics" by ''Fortune''.
*2014: ''Elle
''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...
'' named Tanden one of the ten most powerful women in Washington, D.C.
*2016: ''Politico
''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...
'' named Tanden to its "Politico 50" list of "thinkers, doers and visionaries transforming American politics."
Notes
See also
*Unsuccessful nominations to the Cabinet of the United States
Members of the Cabinet of the United States are nominated by the president and are then confirmed or rejected by the Senate. Listed below are unsuccessful cabinet nominees—that is, individuals who were nominated and who either declined their own ...
References
External links
*
Profile
at the Center for American Progress
The Center for American Progress (CAP) is a public policy research and advocacy organization which presents a liberal viewpoint on economic and social issues. It has its headquarters in Washington, D.C.
The president and chief executive offic ...
*
*
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanden, Neera
1970 births
American people of Indian descent
American political consultants
Biden administration personnel
Bill Clinton
Center for American Progress people
Clinton administration personnel
Hillary Clinton
Living people
Massachusetts Democrats
Massachusetts lawyers
Obama administration personnel
People from Bedford, Massachusetts
Rejected or withdrawn nominees to the United States Executive Cabinet
Senior Advisors to the President of the United States
University of California, Los Angeles alumni
White House Staff Secretaries
Yale Law School alumni