Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, speaks during the third day of the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center, July 27, 2016 in Philadelphia.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images
President-elect Joe Biden is expected to name Neera Tanden to lead the Office of Management and Budget and Cecilia Rouse to chair the Council of Economic Advisers, three people familiar with the process confirmed to NBC News on Sunday.
He also is expected to nominate Adewale “Wally” Adeyemo to be deputy Treasury secretary alongside Janet Yellen, NBC News has learned.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the expected appointments.
Biden is expected to introduce members of his economics team Tuesday in Wilmington.
The anticipated appointments come on the same day that Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris announced their all-female communications team.
Tanden is president and CEO of the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, and the former domestic policy director for the Obama-Biden presidential campaign.
The apparent choice drew immediate pushback from the left and right, with the communications director for Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, citing an “endless stream of disparaging comments” about the GOP senators Tanden will need to confirm her to the post.
She “stands zero chance of being confirmed,” Drew Brandewie tweeted.
Brianna Joy Gray, the former press secretary for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential run, criticized Tanden as “openly disdainful” of the Vermont independent and his coalition.
“It’s almost like they don’t want progressives to support national Democratic candidates going forward,” Gray added.
Rouse, an economist, is dean of Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs. Earlier this year, she spearheaded a letter signed by dozens of economists arguing for more action to stem the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
If confirmed, she would be the first woman of color to chair the council, according to the Journal.
Adeyemo served as a senior international economics adviser to former President Barack Obama and was named last year as the Obama Foundation’s first president.
