Neera Tanden epically failed to be confirmed as director of the Office of Management and Budget. She landed instead as Biden’s staff secretary, the position that controls the flow of paper into the Oval Office. Axios is reporting that now she is being named as the replacement for Susan Rice as the head of the Domestic Policy Council.

One thing about Biden administration picks – they are people who fail up. Being the top domestic policy adviser is an important job. One thing that tanked Tanden in her pursuit of OMB director was her appearance as an unapologetic politician partisan. Her social media accounts were filled with Republican-trashing tweets, for example. Most people are politically biased but the ones who want top spots in an administration usually are smart enough to finesse their social media profiles better than that.

She wasn’t always a big fan of Joe Biden, either. One post from 2015 may now come back to haunt her.

Biden appoints Neera Tanden to serve as his Domestic Policy Advisor.

Here is what she wrote about Biden in October 2015: pic.twitter.com/MLfwyMQeDK

— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) May 5, 2023

She is not new to controversy.

Meet Biden’s new head of the Domestic Policy Council Neera Tanden.

She covered up sexual harassment at her old job, once punched a reporter who asked Hillary Clinton about the Iraq War, and claimed Russian hackers flipped votes from Clinton to Trump in 2016. pic.twitter.com/W6YmEPGxMY

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) May 5, 2023

Another funny thing about Neera Tanden is the time she once said the Libyan government should pay the U.S. back in oil proceeds for the pleasure of invading them in 2011.https://t.co/H0ocGrtjif

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) May 5, 2023

Sounds like a jewel, eh? I mean, Susan Rice was always an odd choice for the top domestic policy adviser – foreign policy is her lane in politics – but, still. She kept a low profile in the role and went about her work, as much as conservatives may have disagreed with it. Do we think the same will be true of Tanden?

She was also on the wrong side of the debate about re-opening schools. She blamed Trump, natch. Never mind it was Joe Biden and his allegiance to the teacher unions that kept schools closed for a dangerously long period. There is no hiding from that fact.

Neera Tanden is replacing Susan Rice as head of the White House Domestic Policy Council. Here's what she had to say about reopening schools in summer 2020. Perhaps the biggest domestic policy challenge in a generation and Tanden got it wrong. https://t.co/VuXibcLzp7 pic.twitter.com/YeJCCXFRyN

— Anthony LaMesa (@ajlamesa) May 5, 2023

Axios also reports that Stef Feldman, senior adviser to Rice and a longtime Biden aide, will replace Tanden as staff secretary.

Feldman, a Biden loyalist who was policy director on his presidential campaign and worked for him during the Obama administration, now will help oversee the presidential decision-making process for the economic, national security, and domestic policy teams.

Biden released a statement.

” For over two years, Susan Rice has helped craft and implement my domestic policy agenda and our country owes a debt of gratitude for her history-making public service. I am pleased to announce that Neera Tanden will continue to drive the formulation and implementation of my domestic policy, from economic mobility and racial equity to health care, immigration and education,” Biden said in a statement.

“As Senior Advisor and Staff Secretary, Neera oversaw decision-making processes across my domestic, economic and national security teams. She has 25 years of experience in public policy, has served three Presidents, and led one of the largest think tanks in the country for nearly a decade. She was a key architect of the Affordable Care Act and helped drive key domestic policies that became part of my agenda, including clean energy subsidies and sensible gun reform. While growing up, Neera relied on some of the critical programs that she will oversee as Domestic Policy Advisor, and I know those insights will serve my Administration and the American people well. I look forward to continuing to work closely with Neera in her new role.”

On Feldman’s new position, Biden said: “Stef is one of my longest-serving and most trusted advisors….I have now asked her to serve as staff secretary because I know I can trust her to ensure that I am equipped with the best advice and counsel.”

It seems to me that Feldman got the short end of the stick. Biden praises her as long-serving and trusted yet he gives the job to Tanden. Hmm. If she has a lack of congressional support in her nomination for director of OMB, will her policy opinions be in line with Congress now? Is Biden just giving her this job because it doesn’t require Senate approval? Apparently so.

Tanden also previously ran the progressive think tank Center for American Progress.

CNN reports that Zayn Siddique will be promoted to the principal deputy of the Domestic Policy Council.