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Biden picks women of color to lead White House budget office

FILE - Shalanda Young testifies during a Senate Budget Committee hearing to examine her nomination to be Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 2, 2021. President Joe Biden is set to nominate Shalanda Young to head the Office of Management and Budget. That's according to a person familiar with his plans. Young has served as acting director of the department for much of the year. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File) (Patrick Semansky, Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

WASHINGTON ā€“ Two women of color are President Joe Bidenā€™s picks to lead the White House budget office, a milestone for the powerful agency after his first choice withdrew following criticism over her previous attacks on lawmakers from both parties.

If confirmed by the Senate, Shalanda Young would become the first Black woman in charge of the Office of Management and Budget, while Nani Coloretti, a Filipino American, would serve as Youngā€™s deputy, making Coloretti one of the highest-ranking Asian Americans in government.

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ā€œToday itā€™s my honor to nominate two extraordinary, history-making women to lead the Office of Management and Budget,ā€ Biden said in a video announcement released Wednesday while he spends the Thanksgiving holiday on Nantucket island in Massachusetts.

ā€œShe has continued to impress me, and congressional leaders as well,ā€ Biden said of Young, who has been acting director for most of the year. Biden turned to Young after his first nominee for budget director, Neera Tanden, came under bipartisan criticism.

Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat who has become a pivotal vote for Biden's agenda in a chamber split 50-50, was the first Democrat to oppose Tanden's nomination and, lacking the necessary votes, she ultimately withdrew from consideration.

Biden later gave Tanden a job in the White House, where she is staff secretary and a senior presidential adviser.

Young faces a Senate confirmation vote, though it was not immediately clear how soon it would be scheduled. But she was confirmed as deputy director in March on a 63-37 vote, with backing from more than a dozen Republicans.

Young, who previously was staff director for the House Appropriations Committee, also has support from top Democratic leaders, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Pelosi, in a statement issued Wednesday, said Youngā€™s nomination is ā€œwell-deserved.ā€ Other Democratic lawmakers expressed support for Young on Twitter.

ā€œGood call,ā€ wrote Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., a member of the Budget Committee, which will vote first on the nominations, tweeted that Young's ā€œleadership is just what we need to implement a federal budget that prioritizes the American people.ā€

In Congress, Young oversaw $1.3 trillion in annual appropriations bills, disaster aid and COVID-19-related spending. The head of the Office of Management and Budget is tasked with putting together the presidentā€™s annual budget for Congress and overseeing a wide range of logistical and regulatory issues across the federal government.

Coloretti would rejoin the federal government from her current post at the Urban Institute think tank, where she is senior vice president overseeing financial and business strategy.

Her prior federal government service includes deputy secretary at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, assistant secretary for management at the Treasury Department and acting chief operating officer at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Biden said Young and Coloretti are ā€œtwo of the most experienced, qualified people to leadā€ the budget office and called on the Senate to vote quickly to confirm them.

___

Jaffe reported from Washington.


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