Neera Tanden, President Joe Biden's failed nominee for the Office of Management and Budget, will replace Susan Rice as head of the Domestic Policy Office.
Tanden withdrew her nomination for the OMB role in March 2021 after she lost support in the Senate over her past tweets railing against Republicans. Biden vowed to find a position that doesn't require congressional approval, and she has served as staff secretary since 2021.
"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.
Tanden is a longtime Democrat operative. She advised Bill and Hillary Clinton in their runs for president and led the left-wing think tank Center for American Progress.
Her past tweets landed her in trouble during the OMB nomination process. She reportedly deleted more than 1,000 tweets when Biden announced her nomination.
"The Republican party is gleefully supporting an alleged child molester," one 2017 tweet read. "And everyone who gives money to the RNC is doing the same."
In 2018 she said the "whole" Republican "party needs to be defeated" because of its support for Trump. "Trump just called a black woman a dog and about 80% of the GOP don’t think he’s racist," Tanden tweeted.
She also insulted several Republican lawmakers, calling Sen. Susan Collins (R., Maine) "the worst."
Rice, who served in the Clinton and Obama administrations, will leave her role on May 26. She stepped down from the position after a report found she mishandled policies surrounding care for migrant children.
The New York Times reported last month that documents show Rice was aware the administration was quickly releasing unaccompanied migrant children into the country by the thousands. Many of those children ended up working grueling jobs, often for long hours and in dangerous conditions where they worked with chemicals and industrial equipment.
The Times report revealed Rice and her policy team failed to act, even as administration staffers called for stricter vetting of the sponsors migrant children were placed with to prevent human trafficking.
"It was maddening," Vivian Graubard, a White House adviser who worked with Rice, said of the administration's refusal to place more attention on migrant children's sponsors. Five Health and Human Services staffers said they were pushed out of roles after highlighting concerns about child labor issues.