Tanden Talks

NEERA TANDEN’S LIFE TODAY looks eerily similar to how it did eight years ago: Donald Trump is president, Republicans control Congress, and she is leading one of the most influential institutions in Democratic politics, the Center for American Progress.

Except, of course, nothing is quite the same.

As Tanden sees it, everything is a lot more terrifying. Independent institutions like universities and law firms are bending the knee to Trump in ways that never happened the first go-round; there aren’t any Republican officials willing to stand up to the president like Sen. John McCain did; and the Democratic party’s brand, she believes, is in even more trouble now.

Tanden, who served in senior roles in the Biden administration, including as the director of the Domestic Policy Council, has at times been a divisive figure in her own party, primarily for her pugnacious posts on social media and willingness to scrap with progressives. After grueling confirmation hearings, then-West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin tanked Tanden’s 2021 nomination to lead Biden’s Office of Management and Budget over her social media posts.

Yet four years later, Tanden’s give-no-fucks attitude seems to be what Democratic voters are craving. After staying quiet online during her White House tenure, she is roaring again, earning adoration from some members of the party for viral blowups on CNN with Republican strategist Scott Jennings and for calling out members of her own party—whether it be Sen. Chuck Schumer for his handling of budget negotiations or Doug Emhoff for not quitting his law firm after it struck a deal with the Trump administration.