President Joe Biden is now facing scrutiny for hiring Neera Tanden in light of previous allegations that she had a physical altercation with a reporter.
In case you missed it, on Friday, the White House announced that Biden hired Neera Tanden to be the Assistant to the President and Domestic Policy Advisor.
"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.
Neera will be taking over for Susan Rice, who is scheduled to depart the administration later on this month. Biden, in his statement, claimed that America owes Rice "a debt of gratitude for her history-making public service."
Tanden, over the past 18 months, has been the senior adviser and staff secretary in the White House.
Prior to that, Biden attempted to place her atop the Office of Management and Budget. But, Tanden was unable to make it past the Senate confirmation process. This, in large part, is because of her background.
Tanden's career in Democratic politics goes back some time. During Hillary Clinton's first presidential campaign - when she was a U.S. Senator - Tanden was Clinton's top advisor.
An infamous incident occurred in 2008 when Tanden accompanied Clinton to an interview with the liberal website ThinkProgress. Clinton was expecting an easy interview, but she got anything but this.
Chief editor Faiz Shakir asked Clinton some difficult questions, including about Clinton's voting regarding the Iraq War. Clinton was not ready for the questions. And, apparently, Tanden physically confronted Shakir after the interview.
The New York Times, at the time, reported that Tanden "responded by circling back to Mr. Shakir after the interview and, according to a person in the room, punching him in the chest."
Tanden did not deny the general nature of the reporting. Rather, she claimed, "I didn’t slug him, I pushed him."
This incident is one reason why Tanden never made it past the Senate confirmation process after being nominated by Biden to lead the Office of Management and Budget. She also faced bipartisan opposition for a series of tweets in which she "viciously attacked" politicians with whom she disagreed.
Nonetheless, Biden has managed to find a home for her in his administration - one that does not require any confirmation process.
It is a trend that we have seen throughout Biden's time as president: if the radical can't survive the confirmation process, give him or her a position that doesn't require confirmation.
