i get that people have issues with neera tanden's politics.people who legitimately oppose her nomination. but there is hypocrisy here, when you have republicans talking about her tweets, right, for the four years that they ignored them or didn't read them. so, is there a different standard here? >> it's the definition of a double standard. i mean, there is really no other way to look at it and the fact that you played just some examples of republicans running the other way instead of condemning some exceptionally vile tweets from the president in their own party for four years, former president trump is just a perfect example. but the word standard is really the key one here, john, and that is because the sources i'm talking to, particularly democratic sources on capitol hill, say that this is an example of joe biden promising to raise the standard, to change the standard and to have the country, in particular, democrats, live by a different standard and that they don't think that neera tanden fits that bill. not all of them, of course, but th

maybe neera tanden is something they all can get on one side of.undantly clear today from house leadership that they have hit a fork in the road and there's no reconvergence happening here. i want to play what happened when a reporter asked house republican leader kevin mccarthy and house republican conference chair liz cheney whether trump should be speaking at the conservative political action conference, cpac this weekend. here are the two responses. >> yes, he should. >> that's up to cpac. i've been clear on my views about president trump and the extent to which following january 6th, i don't believe that he should be playing a role in the future of the party. >> on that high note, thank you all very much. >> and then they literally both go the opposite direction, bill. you can't have a deep divide like that continue for long. >> well, you can, partly because so many more people are on kevin mccarthy's side, unfortunately, from my point of view. it was indicative mccarthy went off one way with aides following him and liz cheney went off in the

but there are plenty of substantive concerns about neera tanden's work at cap.irsten points out there were complaints of ethics violations and conflicts of interest, problems i will tell you progressives are worried about with the neera tanden pick. so i don't know why republicans are fixated open the tweets when there are actually i think substantive criticisms. and where deb haaland is concerned, i think has e as kristen holmes said, having a native american in that role would be critically important, however, it should not be surprising that republicans are going to push back on someone so far to the left on environmental issues, who would be nominated to that post. again, i am quick to see the sexist and racism, especially inside the gop. i think these just happen to be two people that deserve some scrutiny for all kinds of reasons. and i will just point out that today linda thomas-greenfield, an african-american woman who's incredibly experienced, was confirmed as the u.s. ambassador to the u.s. >> i have a question for you, kirsten, about neera tanden but

remember joe manchin came out against neera tanden last friday.been a lot of questions about whether or not her nomination would move forward but what we're seeing now is both the house budget committee and the homeland security committee, both of those committees were supposed to advance her nomination today. announcing they are going to be postponing those mark-ups to advance her nomination to give members some more time to consider her nomination. and i think that is significant because you have to look at who sits on these committees. and i want to go to the homeland security committee next. kyrsten sinema is a democrat on that committee. she has not said whether or not she would support neera tanden. we have asked her repeatedly. so the question now, of course, is whether or not she is having concerns or questions about neera tanden's nomination that could imperil that at the committee level. then also the budget committee. we had not heard from senator bernie sanders. he's the chairman of that committee on whether or not he would support nee

let's zero in on neera tanden specifically. neera tanden hasn't done anything worse than what mr.nell, rick grenell who joe manchin supported when he was nominated by the former president. and she's getting this specific fight that no one else is getting. do you feel confident she will be able to overcome it, despite manchin? >> well, we are fighting hard for neera. we had senator grassley announce he is open minded on neera's confirmation, we have other republican senators we're talking to. we know that getting someone confirmed in a 50/50 senate is hard. but neera tanden would be a superb budget director. she would be one of the most outstanding budget directors we've had. she knows policy, she knows all of how to get something done in washington, she's a great candidate for the job, and certainly we're fighting our guts out to get her confirmed. >> i mean, republicans don't care about that. let's stipulate to that. they care about winning the sort of fights that are more about messaging for their side. targeting these women, people of color, it is on message for them. would joe

neera tanden would probably be a jaywalker to probably grand theft auto tweeting we've seen over the last five years. it's unfortunate for neera she's caught up in this, but i think it so underlining the level of hypocrisy that exists in washington, d.c. today. >> well put. a.b., whether you want to or not we're going to talk about ron johnson, the rare conspiracy theorist who's a regular on "meet the press". the paper back home is accusing him of whitewashing 1/6, and here is why from today's hearing. >> very few didn't share the jovial friendly earnest demeanor of the great majority. some obviously didn't fit in. he describes four different types of people. plain clothes militants, agents provocateurs, fake trump protesters, and then disciplined uniformed. i think these from people that probably planned this. >> as i always say, we paid extra to have those translated from the original russian. so a.b., here's the deal. you've got comments like that that are tinged with nothing to see here, no big deal. you have the indignity of hawley who was asked by a reporter if he was a coincite

her name is neera tanden.he is president biden's nominee to run the office of management and budget. and her nomination drew immediate complaints from republicans in the senate who complained, basically, that her past tweets about them were mean. they said her tweets about republican lawmakers were too combative. they said her old tweets about them, long before she was a nominee, would just make it impossible for her to work with congress. they would never work with her, given what she had tweeted. from the start, it looked as if neera tanden would receive few, if any votes from republican senators to confirm her to the job. in a 50-50 senate, if every republican votes against her, neera tanden would need every democrat to vote in her favor in order to get confirmed. on friday, democratic senator joe manchin announced that he won't vote to confirm neera tanden. he said it was because of her partisan statements on twitter and they would have -- he said those statements would have a toxic and detrimental impact

let's talk about, leigh ann, some of the votes that relate to neera tanden. were the votes postponed and why is this an important position to the biden agenda right now? >> reporter: the homeland security committee who was supposed to vote out her nomination out of the committee today suddenly postponed her vote. we are told by a committee aide our colleague frank thorp was told that the reason is because committee members need more time to process and consider her nomination. well, that's a real bad sign and it shows that perhaps she did not have the votes to make it out of committee. the person i'm looking at in this evenly divided committee among republicans and democrats is senator kyrsten sinema. i reached out to her office and have not yet received a response. hallie, it was -- when neera tanden was nominated it was the liberals who was not happy with it, but now it seems like it's the moderates who could very well sink her nomination. of course, senator joe manchin the moderate democrat from west virginia was the first to come out and say that he would

neera tanden is the most qualified person to be omb secretary.t to a broader level and discuss the fact she's qualified and try to get some of the politics back and forth. i thought that clip you showed of senator corbett was the most hypocritical thing i've soon all day. here's a guy saying she was mean to both parties. you just supported donald trump, who's said the most violent and worst things i've seen in politics every day and you advocated for his elections and now you have a problem with neera tanden's tweets? the three people the republicans have chosen to fight over, tanden, bacerra, and holland, for a republican party that has serious minority problems, taking these three fights is an interesting issue and decision to a party that's now out of power and needs some minority votes to get back in power someday. >> and lanhee, talking about the republican party, what happened when republican leader kevin kaert and congresswoman liz cheney, number three in the caucus, were asked whether they thought that donald trump should have a speaking

they like neera tanden.lly likes neera tanden. >> it's a big deal for the personnel and just for the idea that anything controversial because the divides are so close. so if you get one, then republicans are going to think they can get more and democrats who are trying to get more out of the white house are going to say we can get more as well. jeff does raise a good point. mean tweets were a trade mark for four years of president trump. republicans usually just run down the halls when you try to ask them a question and not answer it. this is senator john cornyn, i'm going to say right up front there's a lot of hypocrisy here. but listen. >> my friendly advice to president biden is to withdraw neera tanden's nomination and select someone who at the very least has not promoted wild conspiracy theories. >> uh-huh. so we should withdraw the trump presidency, i guess, from the historical record if that's the new republican standard. but that is the status test of republicans. so if you're president biden, okay,

ohio senator rob portman also announced his opposition to neera tanden. senator mitt romney. there's still time to find one republican, any republican vote for ms. tanden. republican senator lisa murkowski of alaska was notably quiet on the prospect. but until then, until a democrat -- a republican senator decides he or she will vote for ms. tanden, tandem's nomination to lead omb is hanging by a thread tonight because of the absolutely outrageous and overt double standard to which she is being subjected by even at least one democratic senator who was happy to excuse much worse behavior than hers for a male nominee in a previous administration but has discovered some new standard to keep her from getting his votes. republicans have done it. at least one democrat is doing it. that might make the difference here. the biden administration says they remain in full support of her nomination and they're not pulling it. watch this space. you love your pet...but hate wearing their hair. did you know that your clothes can actually attract pet hair? with bounce pet

his opposition to neera tanden today, so did utah senator mitt romney. lican, any republican vote for ms. tanden. republican senator lisa murkowski of alaska was notably quiet on the prospect. but until then, until a republican senator decides that he or she will vote for ms. tanden, tanden's nomination to lead omb is hanging by a thread tonight because of the outrageous double standard by e democratic senator who was happy to excuse much worse behavior than hers for a male nominee in a previous administration but has apparently discovered a double standard. the biden administration says they remain in full support of their nomination and they are not fulling it. watch this space. ts best. taking metamucil everyday can help. metamucil psyllium fiber gels to trap and remove the waste that weighs you down. it also helps lower cholesterol and slow sugar absorption to promote healthy blood sugar levels. so you can feel lighter and more energetic. metamucil. support your daily digestive health. take the metamucil two week challenge and feel lighter and more en

neera tanden will meet with representative murkowski of alaska.i confirming neera tanden is one of 13 cabinet posts still awaiting confirmation. here to discuss with me, cnn's van jones. the "washington post" had a headline that said many of biden's nominees run into turbulence in the senate. do you think they're running into turbulence because they are people of color, or are they running into turbulence because he's nominated so many people of color where jobs are always contentious because of the departments? >> it certainly is a big coincidence that it's almost always people of color who are getting in hot water. let me just say about neera tanden, listen, she's been tough on people on twitter. she's been tough on me on twitter. her job is not going to be to be on twitter. her job is going to be, when she gets it, and i believe she still has a chance to get it, is to be the director of office managing and budget. she is as qualified as anybody who has ever had that job, and it's rich to a lot of us having gone through four or five years of all

wanted to start with one more on neera tanden nomination. republicans and perhaps democrats, the second tweet is the reason to oppose her nomination and they have not held certain men to the same standard? jen: well, the president was proud to nominate a historic set of nominees who not only were many of them were barrier breaking, including neera tanden but definitely qualified and experienced. he certainly believed that members of the senate are going to consider them and will continue to consider them with the best of intention. so from here, we're going to keep our eyes focused on outreach to democrats and republicans and working toward getting neera tanden confirmed so we can get the budget process moving. reporter: and postmaster general dejoy and his absence before the house oversight committee tomorrow and proposed changes he's put forth that some people are concerned will slow down mail further, raise -- the question is, is there any indication when president biden will appoint members to the three vakansies to the -- vacancies to t

they are shocked -- shocked by neera tanden's tweets. senator john kennedy calling her out for name calling. >> i have to tell you, i'm very disturbed about your personal comments about people. it's not just one or two. i think you deleted about a thousand tweets, and it wasn't just about republicans. and i don't mind disagreements in policy. i think that's great. i love the dialectic. the comments were personal. you called senator sanders everything but an ignorant slut. >> that is not true. >> was that -- so, was that republican tears? like they say liberal tears? now, listen, let me be honest with you. i want this to be clear. name calling should really be beneath our government officials, it really should. mean tweets, bullying, no place for that. but this is what i'm talking about. the hypocrisy in all of this is off the charts. no one is saying mean tweets are right, but the hypocrisy. senator kennedy is disturbed by neera tanden's name calling. listen to the names senator kennedy was throwing around just today, like neo socialist,

let's start with neera tanden, because her confirmation seems to be the most in jerpardy.hat's the latest on that? >> it certainly is the most in jeopardy. the white house is standing by her publicly saying they feel like they're going to find the votes to get her confirmed but it seems unlikely at this point based on what we're hearing from people on the hill. that still remains a pretty big question. we should note there are several crucial republican and democratic senators who have come out and said they're not going to vote for her. there are still a few more that the white house is waiting to hear from. what they said today is neri tanden has rolled up her sleeves and is making a lot of calls herself, whether or not that's directly to these lawmakers is still remains to be seen, but she is the most in jeopardy of actually failing. if she does, it would be president biden's first casualty among his cabinet picks. right now, the white house is counting on a republican to come out and say that they will support her. so far, none of them have, but there is going to be a

more washington news, neera tanden's nomination seems to be collapsing.pened. he diagnosed the problem on twitter.t mocked their political opponents, called members of congress agents. he could tell young girls of south asian descent not to advocating invading libya and stealing their oil. maybe he couldn't cover up sexual harassment. the thing that would be racist, eric swalwell knows that. same thing on television. >> neera tanden is a tough cookie and should be good at that job. so i don't know what manchin is up to. i suspect there's other things going on. i think there's some massogny here.ch >> tucker: nobody likes neopolitician. instead, we say she's a woman of color. it's racism. you hate to play their stupid game of breaking everybody down why racial metrics. since they're doing this, how big a lie is it? asian americans have the highest per capita income. let's be real. the household of an indian american family is $120,000 a year. that passes white americans. so eric swalwell telling young south asian girls that they don't have a chance is ridi

as it relates to neera tanden, let me just say that the president nominated her because he believes she'dource familiar with tanden's thinking tells nbc news that she's waiting until tomorrow's committee votes to determine next steps and to potentially take herself out of the running. joining us now, senior white house reporter for nbc news digital, shannon pettypiece. shannon, good morning! thank you so much for being up early with us. let's talk about this cabinet situation broadly. i think a lot of us were a little confused as to why the administration was doubling down on tanden's nomination, just because it seems abundantly clear that there isn't a moderate republican who's going to be willing to raise their hand and save her nomination, but they have some concerns with other picks as well that may be playing into this. what's your latest reporting? >> so, i asked that same question about tanden to someone close to the white house, you know, why double down on this? why not, you know, people are privately acknowledging they don't have a 50th vote somewhere. there was some talk about

it is unlikely they will get a republican to support ne neera tanden.'s likely going down. the white house is willing to let this play out for another couple days but they understand the dynamics at play here. >> the white house doesn't have all democratic season tors on board to confirm tanden. we have reports how complicated things are. >> this is the biggest issue. it's a 50/50 senate. there is no margin for error if they move forward on anything with democrats only and they have lost a democratic senator and part of the reason for that, according to white house officials and congressional officials i've been talking to over the course of the last couple days, there is a miscalculations, assumption joe biden as the new president, democrat in the oval office would have democratic support on anything particularly picking his team but the reality is the united states senate, one senator holds a tremendous amount of power, never has that been more clear than this united states senate with these dynamics. the white house stayed in close touch with senator

, a line he didn't apply a reference considering dudes nominated by trump. >> let's start with neera tanden. >> has led to say of tanden, "i feel there's a little bit of sexism going around here." >> laura:au so weak. why go there? why not defend the nomination on substantive jobs dell mike rounds? i can tell you why. because tanden's qualifications are really flimsy. raising money for left-wing causes hardly qualifies for you to run the office of management and budget. if the sexism line isn't selling, you can count the democrats to revert to their old standby: racism. as in, anybody who criticizes any of the president's nominations is a racist. >> president biden's nominees of color have faced outside opposition. i guess if trolling was bipartisan, that was okay by old joe manchin. what's up with you? >> laura: people like joy reid are some of the most ill liberal people on the planet. at cnn, a daytime host was but knowing the simple math of the u.s. senate. >> it's unfortunate that he comes from a state which is not particularly representative of most of the country. it's largely a rura

but i don't think we should abandon neera tanden quite yet. it's outrageous that democrats joined -- some democrats including joe manchin -- in approving not mulvaney but jeff sessions, bill barr. trump got the nominees he wanted many of them with democratic support. it is ridiculous that neera tanden is being subjected to this kind of opposition. it's unexplainable in some ways. i think scholanda would make another tremendous nominee, but first things first. i think neera tanden deserves a vote and approval by the senate. president biden should have the choice of his nominees in the same way that donald trump had his choice, some of whom were completely incompetent in the jobs that they did. >> and in fact in terms of just their twitter usage and being toxic on twitter, nobody could have matched rick grenell, who won a bipartisan vote to become also of all things, a diplomat, also togermany. waiting for the parliamentarian for minimum wage in the covid package. >> there hasn't been this much suspense about a senate staff decision in a long ti

something that i would recommend. >>> the white house is fighting to keep alive the nomination of neera tandenudget. >> several have said that they will oppose her nomination, but president biden's chief of staff ron klain recommended tanden for the position and he continues to push for her confirmation. so kevin, ron klain is a powerful voice obviously in this administration. does tanden ea's confirmation ft show the limit of his reach? what is the interpretation. >> reporter: we should be clear in all of this, it has been an uphill battle and her domination is not dead yet. she has a key meeting on monday with lisa murkowski from alaska that could ultimately prove determinative in a her confirmation battle. but what 24 this episode has exposed is where the power centers by, biggest with ron klain the chief of staff. and what we've heard from white house officials, that ron klain is really the most powerful white house chief of staff in memory. and that is not just our assessment. we talked to chris whipped who wrote a book saying that there is no one who could have been better prepared for t

if neera tanden is not confirmed, she will not be the budget director. we will find some place that doesn't require senate confirmation. >> reporter: so the trap door has been outlined and identified, perhaps they will exercise it at some point. president bind said he is sticking with her. neera tanden and her aides believe she can go forward. this is certainly uneasy ground. there is often a cabinet official or two that has some trouble and clearly that has been the case for neera tanden. >> thank you. >>> as mentioned, that house hearing on the intelligence and security failures leading town january 6th is happening now. we will bring you any news from now. >>> in the meantime, we have nbc news' leicester holt standing by to join us with his exclusive news with pfizer ceo, the potential third shot to the current vaccine and potentially alarming details on the new covid variants spreading in new york that could weaken how effective those vaccines are. a new reality check after the break. are a new reality check after the break. our fairy godmother alice

neera tanden has vast experience.s someone that would do a very good job as the director of office management and budget. i don't think people were particularly surprised by senator collins' vote. i know she had been talking to people about it ahead of time. but there are other votes, as well. hugh hewitt, the conservative columnist, just came out with a column asking republicans to vote for neera tanden. they've made it very clear, the president has made it very clear he's standing with neera tanden. >> joe manchin is also a "no" on an increase in the minimum wage, as part of the $1.9 trillion relief plan. joe manchin is wielding a lot of power right now. i know you are someone who is seen oftentimes in more of the center of the democratic party in the senate. but how comfortable are you with joe manchin throwing it weight around like this? >> joe manchin has every right. he's an individual senator to take positions that he would take. and he's actually worked with me and many others on constructively on so many bill

you're not supposed to ask neera tanden questions. when it comes to who you are, transgender or an asian american woman, the answer is be the best person you can be and demand if you're going to be chosen some person from your group is chosen for a high job, do they know what they're doing and that they're not jerks. levine has been responsible for the horrible covid response in pennsylvania. according to "the new york times," six out of ten nursing homes are in pennsylvania that were a disaster. she moved her mother out of a nursing home into a hotel before she issued the order forcing nursing homes to accept covid patient. that's who this person is. she's an embarrassment. the transgender community should be appalled. let's not look for historics. let's look for good so that we can actually get on our feet. >> tucker: at this point, competence would be historic given where we're going. tammy, great to see you. >> small requirement. >> tucker: yeah. known for years, there's leaders willing to humiliate themselves for china's amusemen

is joe manchin a democrat who took neera tanden down. it was this white house that did a horrible job of rolling this out. they told -- bernie sanders, the chairman of the budget committee who oversees her confirmation, found out this from the news. didn't get any heads-up. so yes, republicans are hypocritical but most of these republicans weren't going to be voting for him -- voting for her in the first place. this white house is really to blame for stirring this up. they have the majority. they have the majority. if they wanted to get this done, they could. but it was democrats ultimately who aren't putting up the votes for this. >> he has a point, kirsten, talking about joe manchin, right? because joe manchin is the one who's saying i'm not going to do it. but listen, as far as hypocrisy, the hypocrisy part, he's right too. they are hypocritical. the white house says tonight they are fighting for tanden but republicans say they would support shalanda young who was nominated as deputy director of omb. how much political capital should

neera tanden has insulted every senate republican.'s called these people everything but a good milk cow over the years. it's particularly nasty partisanship when you look at what she has said. but also, the bigger issue, i think, is conspiracy theories. if you're somebody who is worried about conspiracy theories in politics, neera tanden was a terrible choice. she, after the 2016 election, went on a tirade about how russian hackers had gotten into the voting machines and changed the vote totals. this sounds familiar. it sounds like sidney powell who said the same thing after the 2020 election. so righteous move by manchin, smart move. if you want to take a stand against conspiracy theories, vote against neera tanden. >> everything but a good milk cow. first time i've heard that. scott bolden -- >> scott came out swinging this morning. >> a little wisdom for you this morning. >> i thank you for it. she is a fire brand, always has been, for a president who ran on unity and cooling the rhetoric, was she the wrong temperament, tone, choic

. >> so, level us about -- let's continue this line with neera tanden.he's expected to meet with republican senator lisa murkowski this week. talk about. >> reporter: that's right. look, frankly, her nomination is on the rocks. she faced the setbacks. first, west virginia governor joe manchin said he would not support her. and alaska senator lisa murkowski is really looked at as the last possible line to get this nomination through with vice president harris then making that tiebreaking vote. they're meeting monday. we don't know how murkowski is going to vote. they're going to meet and she said she's undecided. we really, we'll rwait until monda. >> thank you. >>> errol louis is with us. right now. errol, good to see you. >> good morning, christi. >> before we get into what happened with the budget bill, the relief bill, i want to ask you about neera tanden. how crucial is her nomination, her appointment, then, to the biden administration? i mean, if there's this much discord about it, how long do you think he'll stand by her? >> well, it's an important

let's talk a little bit about neera tanden. she's got a rocky nomination to become the director of the office of management and budget, omb. you say there's a full-scale effort under way right now to find enough support for her confirmation.

i spoke to senator bernie sanders, he wouldn't actually commit to supporting neera tanden. president biden made it clear he's not backing down. is her nomination doomed? >> i don't know that it's doomed just yet, because it's not clear that she has absolutely no republican support. but it certainly signals it's in deep trouble. we already knew it would be, that her nomination was likely to be one of the ones that would have the harder time getting through. and it's not surprising also that bernie sanders wouldn't commit to that, because there has been a long standing tension between tanden and sanders and a lot of supporters who don't support tanden's history. i think the jury is still out on whether some of the more moderate republican senators would be willing to vote for her in the interests of giving the president his nominees, which is a principle that for the senate, a lot of senators have stood by for a long time. >> that's an important point. bakari, senator manchin of west virginia is a moderate democrat and a key player in passing the president's covid relief bill

i mentioned two committee votes on neera tanden's nomination were stopped today.ny word on when they might happen? >> not yet. the chairman of the committee gary peters of one of the committees indicated that they don't know if they will even have the votes yet because they are trying to have discussions with their own members about where they are. and specifically one democrat kyrsten sinema, an arizona democrat, someone who has not said how she will come down on this decision. and if she defects, then there's almost certainly no path for neera tanden to get the necessary votes to be confirmed. now the white house is indicating that it will still push ahead on tanden, hoping it can get sinema's support. then the big question will be if any republicans break ranks to save the nomination. lisa murkowski has refused to say herself where she might come down because she says she wants to see what the committees do first before announcing their position. because it's a 50/50 senate, one of their members, joe manchin has announced he will oppose the nomination. so that'

be clear, we will get ne neera tanden confirmed. she will prove her critics wrong. >> tanden's nomination in limbo because of harsh tweets she wrote when she was head of a progressive group. still, the biden administration pinning their hopes on lisa murkowski. >> in a world we've gotten dnum to derogatory tweets. i'd like us all to cool that. dan daniellea dpiaz is live. tanden didn't have full throated support even among all democrats. there was a question mark about her experience, whether she was right for the job. the white house got caught flat footed it seems. >> reporter: that's exactly right. the biden white house has their backs against the wall on neera tanden's confirmation. this comes after even just democrats have said that they don't mow if they'll support her nomination, not even republicans. joe manchin said he's not going to support tanden. we're keeping an eye on kyrsten sinema. she has not said where she lands for tanden to lead the omb. biden needs every democratic senator to support his goals so they can pass th

neera tanden obviously in a little bit of trouble, some questions about some others.t normal fashion in terms of getting his cabinet into place and trying to return things to some level of normalcy. but on the other hand, you have people like ron johnson in these hears saying, you know, things that where simply not the case, raising questions about accounts of what actually happened on january 6th.simply not the case raising questions about accounts of what actually happened on january 6th. as somebody who spends so much time thinking about all these things and how washington works and having been there on january 6th, i was stunned to see a senator, somebody whose life was under threat, say maybe it wasn't that bad, maybe this wasn't who actually showed up. how does that resolve itself? >> i would say that, look, ron johnson is going to be the ron johnson. i mean, there is always going to be a handful of senators and especially now who are going to try to be on brand, right, and who are going to play a role because either they really believe it or they think that it

let's start with this question about neera tanden.en we weren't sure who was going to control the senate. it seemed like she may have been doomed, had democrats not won those races in georgia. but of course, they did win, and now joe manchin is flexing his muscle here. they need, basically, every democrat. do we think it's possible they could actually find a republican? i mean, in my own reporting, i've been struggling to find someone that might get on board here. >> no, i think you're right, and it's a reminder that the tweets, your tweets could always come back to bite you, which is what's happening with her here. you know, it is going to be difficult for her to find a republican vote. like you said, she's attacked republicans over the years. but it seems like the biden administration, and you heard chuck schumer there, feel confident. they're not full-throated in their confidence, but they're feeling kind of confident that they can find at least a couple of those republican votes. eyes on people like mitt romney, eyes on people lik

is lisa murkowski, the moderate from alaska, if she's willing to support neera tanden. believe party solidary would lead krysten sinema to support it and she would pass. if lisa murkowski is a no and that is when you see them go to an alternative nominee. in covid relief, it is out of their hands because if the parliamentarian knows that they don't have a vote to overrule the parliamentarian's decision and in that case the minimum wage would not be an issue in this bill. if the parliamentarian said $15 minimum wage could stay in, then you have the beginning of a conversation and a negotiation with manchin and cinema and then the question is if they insist on a change or reduction in the $15, what does this do on the house side or if the house could not move then you have a threshold test for manchin and cinema, are you willing to bring this bill down because of your objections. i think the white house is still betting at the end of the day that when it comes to final passage on that bill, whether it is a $15 minimum wage or no minimum wage or something less, $13, they'l

five key senators said they won't vote to confirm neera tanden into the office of budget. do you think it's time for her to withdraw her nomination? >> i know neera tanden well. i think she would be a good director. i'll reach out to my colleagues. i'll tell you what i know about her kpashlt. >> it cis a $1.9 trillion p package. it is supposed to include a $15 minimum wage. two senators have made it clear they will not vote for it. >> it's a bill that will pass with just 50 votes, so it's important for the democratic caucus to hold together on this one. whether or not that $15 an hour minimum wage is even in the bill is a decision made wednesday by a parliamentarian of the senate. once we get to that point, there will be a more urgent conversation if it is ruled to be something that's eligible to be in the bill. if not, then it will have to be pursued by other means. let's be clear, the minimum wage should be raised. the working people of this country, particularly the essential workers who have been on the front lines during the coming days. but this $1.9 trillion package

that president biden has nominated who, i would think, manchin might want to oppose more than neera tandent, gee, she had some mean tweets. poor joe manchin's fellow senators. those people suffering so much, they just can't take it. neera, a few years ago, called them -- was slightly nasty about them. of course, i have a personal stake in this if people are going to be disqualified for things they said on twitter. i guess, just not going to be confirmed for a cabinet-level position in the near future, which is a big surprise, of course. >> well, we will let all the reporters file their stories coming off that comment, your last comment, during this break. fortunately for us, both of our guests have kindly agreed to stick around. we will just get this commercial break on the other side. coming up. looks like we are about to hear more from a certain, florida man, who come to think of it is the only twice-impeached private citizen in all of the sunshine state. this is how you become the best! ♪“you're the best” by joe esposito♪ ♪ [triumphantly yells] [ding] don't get mad. get e*trade. this is

this might be the final blow on neera tanden that ultimately kills her nomination.se was looking at collins as a person who could potentially save her after joe manchin came out against her last week. obviously, in a 50/50 divided senate -- congressmen -- president biden can't afford to lose a single democrat on any confirmation or if he does, they've got to find someone to make up that vote on the republican side. so susan collins being a moderate from maine, they thought perhaps they could fill that void that joe mannixchin created, but collins told us that neera doesn't have the experience or the temperament and talked about these tweets and attacks on twitter, and that would be problematic. and she deleted more than a thousand tweets before her nomination was announced and questioned whether she actually has that commitment to transparency, because she went back and tried to hide these missives. obviously, this is a big problem for the white house. this is a big problem for neera tan tanden. >> there's been a lot of attempts to make sure this doesn't happen, but

run the budget office now in jeopardy. >> the senate committees that were supposed to vote on neera tanden's nomination suspended without explanation. >> clearly there is a tremendous amount going on right now. >> reporter: the white house says they have no plans to pull tanden's nomination for now. >> there's one nominee to lead the budget department. her name is neera tanden and that's who we're fighting for. the two they're looking at are lisa murkowski and kyr kyrsten sinema. >> it's a numbers game, right? it's a matter of getting one republican to support her nomination. >> meanwhile, the house of representatives is set to vote friday on biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan. all eyes in washington are now on the little known senate parliamentarian who will decide soon whether biden's proposed $15 minimum wage can be included. democrats are still sharply divided whether the wage increase should be in the bill at zblaul in my humble opinion, building back better includes a $15 per hour minimum wage. >> reporter: meanwhile, republican leaders are urging their members to oppose the

biden's nominees thus far neera tanden, and we will talk about her, haven't had too tough of a time.nk in the end there is going be, i am calling it a little bit of a guilty conscience here. after obama nominated him, nominated merrick garland, who he grew up a few blocks away, so i kind of know where he kroms from and the environment and the neighborhood and the suburb he was raised in, but mitch mcconnell denied him even a hearing. so the irony tomorrow is that he will finally, after being first nominated for the supreme court in 2016, denied even a hearing by mcconnell to keep a supreme court seat open in case a republican was elected president. that turned out to be the case. finally, he is getting a hearing. and i don't think there is any momentum to try to block him from the attorney general post, even though he may get some tough questions in this hearing tomorrow. >> let's talk about someone who just might be blocked, neera tanden. president's nominee to be the director of office of management and budget. joe manchin moderate democrat says he will not vote to confirm her. on

it doesn't take much to know he wouldn't be for neera tanden.he's been getting them on assistant united on the items in the coming weeks and months with joe biden in the white house. to think that chuck grassley was going to buck mitch mcconnell and vote for neera tanden at the behest, it is not tied to any reality. there's only one question we need to be asking. will lisa murkowski, the republican from alaska, vote for neera tanden for omb. that's the only question we've been trying to track her around the capitol. she met in the last hour, lisa murkowski, that is, with chuck schumer. and john cornyn surmised that she would use this, murkowski would use this as an opportunity to let the administration know of some of her gripes with the biden administration over oil drilling and things of that name. so lisa murkowski, in this governing contract, every senator is in play on every issue. so everybody can kind of use this as an opportunity to make their voice known and their preferences be heard. that's the governing dynamic we're in and that's wh

we just mentioned neera tanden, right?s his opposition as the one democrat that's come out opposed to neera tanden that sent her nomination as omb director into a tail spin because the biden administration got scrambling to find republican votes. when you have a 50/50 divided senate and you're trying to do things on democratic-only votes like the biden administration is trying to pass this covid relief bill, alisyn, then any single democrat becomes sort of king maker in many ways. and so, with this minimum wage battle, which we don't know yet if it's going to be, according to the rules to include the $15 minimum wage in the covid relief bill. we're waiting to find that out from the senate parliamentarian. but manchin made clear, even if it's allowed in the bill, he's not going to vote for it. when you're doing something you need all 50 democratic votes, joe manchin makes a really big difference. so you hear what is an opening for a potential compromise. you heard joe biden mention that he may be open to compromise on the m

and it comes forward in this business neera tanden, and at the same time, he supports jeff sessions? a racist? and it's inexplicable, chris. >> lots of anger at him for had that double standard, robin kincaid and faz, thank you for making the time tonight. rachel maddow show starts right now. good evening. >> good evening, much appreciated. thanks at home for joining us this hour. here is a change i did not see coming. you might remember that one of the classy things about the transition from the last president to this one, and i mean klassy with a k in this context. one of the real nice things with this transition, the transition didn't really happen, everywhere from the pentagon to the parts of the government dealing with the vaccine rollout, the outgoing trump administration refused to do normal transition things that would have allowed the incoming administration to understand what they were walking into. how the trump people were leaving things, what remained to be done and needed to be picked up immediately on day one by the new team. the trump folks just had no interest in hel

i have a question to start off with about neera tanden. so, when she tweeted that, quote, a vampire has more heart than ted cruz when she compared senator mcconnell to voldemort and when she called senator collins, quote, the worst, did those comments make the president's standard of tweeting everyone with dignity and respect? hjt well, first i'll note that when neera tanden testified just a few weeks ago, she apologized for her past comments and she would be joining an administration where there is an expectation of a high bar of civility and engagement, whether that's on social media or in person. and we certainly expect she would meet that bar. >> did the president have a transition team underestimate how much of a problem her tweets would become? >> the president nominated neera tanden because she is qualified, because she's experienced, because she has a record of working with people who agree with her and disagree with her. and she has decades of experience. and, plus, she has lived experience of her own, having benefitted from a num

phil, what about neera tanden?f senators resurfacing the tweets that she had sent out over the fast few years, some of them targeting individual senators who are in those confirmation hearings. what we don't know, and this is from romney, the west virginia senator manchin and others, is that we didn't hear the same sort of pushback to rick grinnell when he was confirmed as an ambassador. he went after people on twitter. he just didn't go after people that were lawmakers in the senate. >> yeah, katy, neera tanden is no stranger to the members of the senate. she's been a political fixture in washington for a decade now running one of the leading liberal thinktanks here. she's been a partisan figure in the campaign for hillary clinton and other efforts. and she's gotten under the skin of a lot of republican senators with the tone and partisan rhetoric in her messages on social media. but it's important to keep in mind it's not only republicans who are opposing her. you mentioned senator joe manchin, the democrat from