Biden picks Neera Tanden as top domestic policy adviser
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has selected a senior aide, Neera Tanden, to replace Susan Rice as domestic policy adviser, the White House said in a statement.
Tanden, a longtime Democratic aide who served in two previous presidential administrations, will hold one of the administration’s highest political posts, covering most areas outside of national security and the economy.
As Biden’s staff secretary, Tanden once played a major role in the West Wing, controlling schedules, briefing books and other documents that come into the president’s office.
Stefanie Feldman, a Rice aide who has long been a top political mind in Biden’s orbit, will replace Tanden as staff secretary.
“Neera oversaw the decision-making processes within my national, economic and national security teams,” Biden said in a statement touting 25 years of public policy experience. “She was a key architect of the Affordable Care Act and helped drive key national policies that became part of my agenda, including clean energy subsidies and sensible weapons reform. fire.”
Tanden’s predecessor on the domestic policy council, Susan Rice, left after a two-year term that included wrangling over tense issues ranging from immigration to health care, guns and police reform .
The move comes as Biden continues to face headwinds on immigration after promising to reverse nearly all of the restrictive policies imposed under his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump. The United States plans next week to lift Covid-19 restrictions that block migrants attempting to cross illegally at the US-Mexico border.
Tanden, long seen as a lightning rod for her sharp-tongued tweets, was appointed to her current behind-the-scenes job after she was forced to withdraw her nomination as budget chief amid fierce opposition from Republicans and the senator. Joe Manchin, a Western Democrat. Virginia.
While Republicans attacked Tanden for her leftist views, she also fought with the progressive camp for her support for Clinton against Senator Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic presidential race, and drew attention for backing cuts to the Social Security retirement program to balance the budget nearly a decade ago.