“I regret that language and take responsibility for it,” Tanden, a frequent cable news guest over the past several years, said in a line she added to the prepared opening statement released to the media ahead of the hearing. “Over the last few years, it’s been part of my role to be an impassioned advocate. I understand, though, that the role of OMB director calls for bipartisan action, as well as a nonpartisan adherence to facts and evidence,” she said, referring to the Office of Management and Budget.
Tanden’s nomination to lead OMB in the fall was greeted with guffaws by Republicans who had been targeted by her barbs for years. A longtime adviser to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton