Neera Tanden

Neera Tanden
Name	Neera Tanden
Office	Director of the United States Domestic Policy Council
President	Joe Biden
Term start	May 10, 2023
Predecessor	Susan Rice
Office1	Staff Secretary of the White House
President1	Joe Biden
Term start1	January 20, 2021
Term end1	May 10, 2023
Predecessor1	Derek Lyons
Successor1	Stefanie Feldman
Office2	President of the Center for American Progress
Term start2	2011
Term end2	2021
Predecessor2	John Podesta
Successor2	Patrick Gaspard
Birth date	10 September 1970
Birth place	Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S.
Education	University of California, Los Angeles (BA), Yale Law School (JD)
Party	Democratic
Spouse	Benjamin Edwards, 2002

Neera Tanden is an American lawyer and policy advisor who has served as Director of the United States Domestic Policy Council in the Biden administration since May 2023. A longtime figure in Democratic policy circles, she previously served as Staff Secretary in the White House and was President of the influential Center for American Progress think tank. Tanden has held senior roles in the administrations of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, and was nominated by President Joe Biden to lead the Office of Management and Budget, a nomination that was later withdrawn following contentious Senate confirmation hearings.

Early Life and Education

Born in Bedford, Massachusetts, Tanden is the daughter of immigrants from India. She attended UCLA, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree and served as president of the Undergraduate Students Association Council. She subsequently earned a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School, where she was an editor for the Yale Law Journal. Her early political engagement included volunteering for the Michael Dukakis presidential campaign and working for the Democratic National Committee.

Career

Tanden began her career in the Clinton administration, serving as Associate Director for Domestic Policy in the White House Office of Legislative Affairs. Following the election of Barack Obama, she was appointed Senior Advisor for Health Reform at the Department of Health and Human Services, playing a key role in the development and passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. She later served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. From 2011 to 2021, she led the Center for American Progress, shaping its policy agenda on issues from health care to climate policy.

Policy and Advocacy Work

At the Center for American Progress, Tanden oversaw the development of numerous policy proposals, including plans to expand the Affordable Care Act and address economic inequality. She was a vocal advocate for the American Jobs Plan and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Her advocacy extended to foreign policy, where she supported a progressive internationalism aligned with the Biden administration's approach, and she frequently engaged with media outlets like MSNBC and CNN.

Confirmation Hearing and Senate Staff

In 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Tanden to be Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Her confirmation process before the Senate Homeland Security Committee and the Senate Budget Committee became highly contentious, with criticism from both Republican senators like Rob Portman and Mitch McConnell and Democratic senator Joe Manchin focusing on her past critical comments about lawmakers on Twitter. Following the withdrawal of her nomination, she was appointed to the role of White House Staff Secretary, a position she held until assuming leadership of the United States Domestic Policy Council.

Personal Life

Tanden is married to attorney Benjamin Edwards, a former official in the Obama administration and the Treasury Department. The couple has two children and resides in Washington, D.C.. She has spoken publicly about her upbringing by a single mother and the influence of social safety net programs like food stamps on her family's life.

Controversies and Criticisms

Tanden's nomination to lead the Office of Management and Budget was marked by significant controversy, primarily centered on thousands of now-deleted tweets that criticized senators from both parties, leading to accusations of a lack of civility. Her past criticisms of progressive figures like Bernie Sanders and her tenure at the Center for American Progress, which received funding from corporations and foreign governments, were also scrutinized. These factors contributed to a lack of sufficient support in the United States Senate, ultimately leading the Biden administration to withdraw her nomination.

Category:1970 births Category:Living people Category:American political advisors Category:Directors of the United States Domestic Policy Council Category:People from Bedford, Massachusetts