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Washington Post Pulls Out Race Card Regarding GOP Opposition to Biden's Controversial Cabinet Picks

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Of any explanation that could be offered as to why some of President Joe Biden’s nominees are facing opposition in Congress, The Washington Post wins the prize for “woke” silliness.

“Many of Biden’s nominees of color run into turbulence in the Senate,” the outlet headlined in a story published Wednesday.

“Many of the president’s Black, Latino, Asian and Native American nominees are encountering more political turbulence than their White counterparts,” The Post claimed.

The not-so-subtle subtext seems to be, “Those darn Republican white supremacists are at it again.”

The Biden administration’s stated goal was to nominate a diverse cabinet, which means when some of those nominees run into trouble during the confirmation process, as they inevitably do (regardless of race), some of them will likely be minorities.

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NPR reported that Biden’s desired cabinet is 55 percent nonwhite, compared to former presidents Donald Trump’s 18 percent and Barack Obama’s 45 percent.

Working directly against The Post’s argument that the opposition some of the nominees face is because of their race, the Senate has already confirmed Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and U.N. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, both of whom are African-American with strong bipartisan support, according to Politico.

Further, Alejandro Mayorkas, who is Latino, was confirmed as Secretary of Homeland Security.

To date, 10 of Biden’s 23 Cabinet nominees have been confirmed by the Senate.

Do you think race is a factor in GOP opposition to some of Biden's nominees?

Post columnist James Hohmann highlighted in a tweet, “Republicans have required cloture votes for three of Biden’s non-White Cabinet-level nominees.”

So what?

I would take him back to the early months of the Trump administration in 2017, when Democrats required cloture votes (60 or more senators needed to end debate) on an unprecedented 14 of the 45th president’s picks.

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Was it because many of them were white? To quote a Bidenism, “Come on, man!”

The Post conceded at the time that Trump’s Cabinet faced unprecedented delays in getting confirmed.

The last of his nominees was approved on April 27, 2017, with a median wait time of 25 days between nomination and Senate vote, versus just two days for Obama.

Further, all of the recent presidents have seen at least one of their cabinet picks have to withdraw under Senate confirmation scrutiny.

So far Biden’s pick to head the Office of Management and Budget, Neera Tanden, who happens to be Indian-American, appears to be in that category.

Fox News reported Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia came out in opposition to Tanden, as have several moderate Republicans including Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah and Susan Collins of Maine.

Senators have cited Tanden’s many caustic tweets directed at political figures while serving as president of the liberal Center for American Progress as reason for their hesitation.

The Wall Street Journal opinion columnist Daniel Henninger wrote that Tanden in her tweets referred to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell as “Voldemort” and “Moscow Mitch,” compared Sen. Ted Cruz “unfavorably to vampires” and frequently targeted Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, claiming he was being aided by Russia during the 2016 Democratic presidential primary.

She also hammered Collins for voting to confirm then-Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, claiming the senator offered a “pathetically bad faith argument as cover for President Trump’s vicious attacks on survivors of sexual assault.”

Collins explained her opposition to the OMB nominee stating on Monday, “Neera Tanden has neither the experience nor the temperament to lead this critical agency. Her past actions have demonstrated exactly the kind of animosity that President Biden has pledged to transcend.”

“Ms. Tanden’s decision to delete more than a thousand tweets in the days before her nomination was announced raises concerns about her commitment to transparency,” Collins continued.

“The OMB needs steady, experienced, responsive leadership. I will vote against confirming Ms. Tanden.”

Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio asked Tanden during her confirmation hearing earlier this month why she had deleted the tweets.

“I deleted tweets because I regretted my tone, and I’ve deleted tweets over many months. For those concerned about my rhetoric and my language, I am sorry and I am sorry for any hurt that they have caused,” she responded.

Clearly, these senators’ concerns have nothing to do with Tanden’s race.

The same is true regarding Biden’s choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra, who is Latino.

GOP Senators, like Romney and Ben Sasse of Nebraska, pressed the nominee concerning his radical views on abortion and his decision as California attorney general to sue The Little Sisters of the Poor.

During his confirmation hearing this week, Becerra defended his 2003 vote against a ban on partial-birth abortion saying that people “have different, deeply held beliefs on this issue.”

The ban on late-term abortions passed with bipartisan support, including a vote from then-Sen. Biden, and former President George W. Bush then signed the bill into law.

In a Monday letter, 11 Republican senators, including Ted Cruz of Texas, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Tom Cotton of Arkansas and John Kennedy of Louisiana, as well as dozens of GOP House members, urged Biden to withdraw Becerra’s nomination, citing in part the nominee’s positions on abortion.

“Mr. Becerra’s radical views extend to his ardent support of abortion until the moment of birth,” the letter read.

These are policy differences and they have nothing to do with race.

The Washington Post is clearly carrying water for the Democratic Party by playing the race card in relation to Biden’s nominees.

The paper’s silly claim that the race of the nominees is causing turbulence is yet another example of why the vast majority of Americans have such a low view of traditional, establishment media sources.

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Randy DeSoto has written more than 2,000 articles for The Western Journal since he joined the company in 2015. He is a graduate of West Point and Regent University School of Law. He is the author of the book "We Hold These Truths" and screenwriter of the political documentary "I Want Your Money."
Randy DeSoto is the senior staff writer for The Western Journal. He wrote and was the assistant producer of the documentary film "I Want Your Money" about the perils of Big Government, comparing the presidencies of Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama. Randy is the author of the book "We Hold These Truths," which addresses how leaders have appealed to beliefs found in the Declaration of Independence at defining moments in our nation's history. He has been published in several political sites and newspapers.

Randy graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point with a BS in political science and Regent University School of Law with a juris doctorate.
Birthplace
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Nationality
American
Honors/Awards
Graduated dean's list from West Point
Education
United States Military Academy at West Point, Regent University School of Law
Books Written
We Hold These Truths
Professional Memberships
Virginia and Pennsylvania state bars
Location
Phoenix, Arizona
Languages Spoken
English
Topics of Expertise
Politics, Entertainment, Faith




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