White House chief of state Ron Klain joined MSNBC’s Joy Reid for a “hot seat” interview Wednesday night where she was going to ask him specifically about Sen. Joe Manchin’s “shenanigans” in holding up OMB Director nominee Neera Tanden:
I'm looking forward to the hot seat? Thanks for having me @JoyAnnReid https://t.co/jPLt9JsaJU
— Ronald Klain (@WHCOS) February 24, 2021
But we’re not sure it went the way Reid and libs hoped it would’ve gone. He said the White House is still “fighting our guts out” to get her confirmed. . .
Ron Klain to me tonight on #TheReidOut: 'We're fighting our guts out' to get Neera Tanden confirmed for OMB https://t.co/fi8V0rYS7F via @msnbc
— Joy-Ann Pro-Democracy & Masks Reid ? (@JoyAnnReid) February 25, 2021
. . .but he also said that Sen. Manchin “doesn’t answer to us at the White House”:
Klain on Manchin's objection to Neera Tanden: He "doesn't answer to us at the White House" https://t.co/aSzWyN6ljU pic.twitter.com/pl8yBRoL44
— The Hill (@thehill) February 25, 2021
And he respects “Joe Manchin’s right to cast these votes as an independent-minded Senator”:
Klain says "I obviously disagree" but "I respect Joe Manchin’s right to cast these votes as an independent minded Senator. That's what he's gonna do- we @ the WH, we're gonna make our case to him & all the other Dems & Republicans in the Senate on these key votes, that's our job" https://t.co/gf0zut9nK2
— DJ Judd (@DJJudd) February 25, 2021
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If her nomination fails, team Biden will put her in a role that doesn’t require Senate approval:
Ron Klain says if Tanden's nomination fails, they're not considering her for an acting role: "If Neera Tanden is not confirmed, she will not become the budget director, we will find some other place for her to serve in the administration that doesn't require Senate confirmation"
— DJ Judd (@DJJudd) February 25, 2021
But he also signaled that they will cave on the $15 per hour minimum wage if the Senate parliamentarian says it can’t be part of the budget reconciliation bill:
.@WHCOS, on trying to overrule the Senate parl if she rules that the $15 minimum wage is out of order: “Certainly that’s not something we would do. We’re gonna honor the rules of the Senate and work within that system to get this bill passed.”
— Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) February 25, 2021
This will anger Sen. Bernie Sanders and others:
No one can tell me that you can live in dignity on $7.25 an hour. It cannot be done. It is time we finally do what is right, and raise the federal minimum wage to a living wage of $15 an hour. No more starvation wages! https://t.co/0mGwm1TiYH
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) February 20, 2021
So you’re saying Bernie doesn’t understand math?
>@WHCOS probably understands math, as well. If @Sen_JoeManchin and @SenatorSinema are against the $15 minimum wage, why would they vote to overrule the parl? This is being pushed by people who don’t really understand the process, I think. https://t.co/GlMx6ZdBXj
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) February 25, 2021
Yeah, we’d agree with that.
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