“It’s pretty crazy to me to think that she can go back and … eliminate all the tweets that she’s sent out over the last, whatever, months, years. And I think it’s really a misstep by the administration,” said Cornyn, who also occasionally does battle on Twitter. “I really am a little surprised, particularly on the OMB nominee that there hadn’t been at least some consultation. I mean some of these problems can be avoided. And people, you know, saved from the embarrassment.”

While Democrats praised Tanden for a career of passionate advocacy and understanding how government support can help families, her most immediate problem is a very modern one: a Twitter account that has often lashed Republican senators. Perhaps mindful of that, she appears to have deleted more than 1,000 tweets over the past two weeks, but that may have only further fueled Republican acrimony.

“She’s been pretty partisan in some of her previous positions. And in many cases, with respect to Republican senators who would have to vote on her potential nomination,” said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), the GOP whip. He was noncommittal about whether Tanden would receive a floor vote under Republican control and a Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.