WASHINGTON — Neera Tanden, a longtime Democratic adviser who is currently President Biden’s secretary of staff, will serve as director of the Domestic Policy Council, the president announced Friday.
Ms. Tanden, who has been a Washington fixture for more than two decades as an adviser to President Barack Obama and as president of the Center for American Progress, will replace Susan Rice as Mr. Biden’s top domestic policy adviser.
“I am pleased to announce that Neera Tanden will continue to drive the formulation and implementation of my domestic policies, from economic mobility and racial equality to health care, immigration and education,” Biden said in a White House statement.
He thanked Mrs. Rice for her services and said the country owed her “many thanks”.
For the past year, Ms. Tanden has worked behind the scenes at the White House, managing the daily flow of information that reaches Mr. Biden’s desk. It’s an influential but humble position that has kept her close to many internal debates about the president’s agenda.
But Mrs. Tanden hasn’t always been so inconspicuous. As the leader of the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank in Washington, she was often very open in her advocacy of progressive policies.
And during the administration of President Donald J. Trump, she regularly used her Twitter account to lash out at the president, his Republican allies, members of the news media, and conservative Democrats.
Her sharp social media presence — her personal account had several hundred thousand followers — and frequent television appearances gave her an outsized voice that pushed for liberal policies in Washington for years.
But it also made her an easy target for critics.
Mr. Biden initially nominated Ms. Tanden as director of the Office of Management and Budget, a position that would have given her broad authority to direct government spending on policies she has supported for years.
In March 2021, Ms. Tanden withdrew from consideration for the position of budget director, citing a lack of support for confirmation in the Senate. Several senators targeted by her Twitter criticism declined to support her.
At the time, Mr Biden vowed he would find her a place in the administration, later appointing her as his secretary of staff.
Since then, aides have said Ms. Tanden’s influence within the West Wing has grown, even as the number of her public appearances has declined significantly.