Neera Tanden: White House pulls Tanden’s nomination to lead the Office of

The announcement comes after several key senators said they would oppose Tanden’s nomination, citing her past comments aimed at lawmakers and posts on social media.

Though Tanden withdrew her nomination, the White House saw no path to her confirmation, according to an administration official.

“We exhausted every path forward,” the official said.

In a letter to Biden, Tanden said it was the “honor of a lifetime” to be considered for the role.

“I appreciate how hard you and your team at the White House has worked to win my confirmation. Unfortunately, it now seems clear that there is no path forward to gain confirmation, and I do not want continued consideration of my nomination to be a distraction from your other priorities,” Tanden wrote.

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Mitt Romney of Utah all said in recent weeks that they would oppose her confirmation, pointing to Tanden’s past criticisms of lawmakers on social media.

Without Manchin’s support, Tanden would have needed a Republican senator to vote in favor. Democrats hold a narrow majority in a 50-50 Senate with Vice President Kamala Harris able to cast tie-breaking votes in the chamber.

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska had been seen as a potential swing vote and met with Tanden on Monday afternoon to discuss her nomination. Murkowski told CNN shortly before the nomination was pulled that she had still not made a decision on Tanden.

However, a senior administration official told CNN’s Jake Tapper that Murkowski had conveyed to the White House that she was a no, hence Tanden had withdrawn.

A senior administration official said the backing of independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona was also very much in doubt.

Sanders, the chairman of the committee that oversaw Tanden’s confirmation hearings, told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on “The Situation Room” that he did not believe Tanden had the votes to be confirmed.

“Well, right now Neera Tanden does not have the votes, so we’ll see what happens in the future,” Sanders said in an interview moments before the White House announced her nomination was being pulled.

Tanden apologized and expressed regret over her past tweets during Senate confirmation hearings last month.

She appeared before the Senate Homeland Security Committee and apologized for some of the criticism she has previously directed at congressional Republicans and expressed regret over past tweets. Tanden later faced senators on the Budget Committee, including Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, who said some of her past comments…