Biden Finally Nominating Shalanda Young to Lead Office of Management and Budget

After months of waiting, President Joe Biden will finally nominate one of the most experienced Black women in government to one of the most important posts in his administration.

Shalanda Young has already served since March as acting director of the Office of Management and Budget but now she’ll be nominated to officially and permanently lead the department, according to the Washington Post.

The Biden White House has been pushed by the CBC and others to make the move since it became clear that his first choice for the job, Neera Tanden, was going down in flames. If she’s confirmed by the Senate, Young will be the first Black woman to hold the post. She’ll also immediately have one of the most important gigs in Washington as OMB is ultimately in charge of evaluating and coordinating the White House’s budget priorities and ensuring they get carried out by the appropriate federal agencies.

The job is even more crucial now that Biden’s massive infrastructure bill has been passed into law and his so-called Build Back Better package of social and environment programs was passed by the House and will now be considered by the Senate.

Young has more than 20 years experience in Washington including a critical job as Democrats’ staff director on the House Appropriations Committee. Despite how important the job is, Biden took his time nominating Young for the job because of behind-the-scenes moves by members of Congress who supported other candidates.

From the Washington Post

One of the delays in elevating Young was that some Democratic lawmakers wanted the administration to promote more nominees of Asian descent. After Tanden, who is Indian American, withdrew her nomination, Asian American groups pushed for Biden to fill the role with someone of Asian descent. Many of the groups eventually coalesced behind Coloretti, pushing Biden to nominate her for the deputy role.

Coloretti is a reference to Nani Coloretti, a Filipino-American who was previously a deputy HUD secretary and whom Biden officially nominated to be Young’s deputy.

Young would be the sixth Black member of the Biden cabinet, not including Vice President Kamala Harris.