Neera Tanden a brilliant policy mind with critical practical experience across governments: Biden

Tanden, 50, if confirmed by the Senate, would be the first woman of colour and first Indian-American to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which serves the President of the United States in overseeing the implementation of his vision across the Executive Branch.

Specifically, OMB's mission is to assist the President in meeting his policy, budget, management and regulatory objectives and to fulfill the agency's statutory responsibilities.

Tanden's career has focused on pursuing policies designed to support working families, foster broad-based economic growth, and curb inequality.

“For Director of the Office and Management and Budget, I nominate Neera Tanden. I've known Neera for a long time. A brilliant policy mind with critical practical experience across government,” Biden said at the Transition headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware on Tuesday.

“She was raised by a single mom on food stamps, an immigrant from India who struggled, worked hard, and did everything she could for her daughter to live out her American dream. And Neera did just that. She understands the struggles that millions of Americans are facing,” he said.

Biden said Tanden will be the first woman of colour and first South Asian American to lead the OMB.

“She will be in charge of laying out my budget that will help us control the virus, deal with the economic crisis, and build back better. But above all, she believes what I believe - a budget should reflect our values,” he said.

In her remarks, Tanden said it is her honour to help shape budgets and programmes to keep lifting Americans up, to pull families back from the brink, “to give everybody the fair chance my mother got, and that everyone deserves”.

“I believe so strongly that our government is meant to serve all the American people - Republicans, Democrats, and Independents alike, all of whom deserve to know that their government has their back,” she said.

“I look forward to working together alongside the dedicated career professionals at OMB to expand those possibilities for every American family,” Tanden said.

Tanden was a close ally of Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state and the 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, and helped pass the Affordable Care Act under Barack Obama.