Tanden withdrawal absolves Murkowski of difficult decision

Sen. Lisa Murkowski took her time deliberating the fate of Neera Tanden's bid to become White House budget chief. And while she mulled it over, the White House removed Tanden's nomination from purgatory.

The news that President Joe Biden withdrew Tanden's nomination, at Tanden's request, ground to a halt days of discussions between Murkowski and the White House over a potential path to save her nomination. As of Tuesday, the moderate Alaska Republican's vote was "fluid," said Senate Republican Whip John Thune (R-S.D.). Murkowski met with Tanden on Monday and said she has more follow-up questions.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and several swing-vote Republicans announced opposition to Tanden, in part because of her frequent Twitter attacks in the past, making Murkowski the deciding vote. It's clear that Tanden was not high on her prospects of winning over the Alaska Republican or a pair of undecided Senate Democrats.

"It now seems clear that there is no path forward to gain confirmation, and I do not want continued consideration of my nomination to be a distraction from your other priorities," Tanden said in a letter to Biden that came after the White House spent more than a week trying to salvage her nomination.

And though Murkowski never publicly stated how she would vote on Tanden before the withdrawal, Murkowski at a minimum asserted her importance in today's 50-50 Senate. Her long consideration of the nomination and dialogue with the Biden administration shows how critical Murkowski's vote will be in the months ahead in a narrowly divided Washington. Democrats will need 60 votes to most things, and Murkowski will be top of mind as they go forward.

Thune said Murkowski had bigger concerns about her home state as she weighed her vote on Tanden.

"She's got concerns about the economy in Alaska. And there are some policies that the administration has taken already that are very harmful to Alaska. And she's trying to have a conversation with them about things they can do to help improve the economic outlook," Thune said on Tuesday after visiting with Murkowski this week.

Murkowski said on Tuesday that she spent much of meeting with Tanden explaining her state's unique situation. The senator observed that Tanden is "not familiar with Alaska."

"I’m taking more of my free time and not so free time to ensure that everybody in this administration ... understands the economic situation, understands how the Alaska economy is situated right now," Murkowski said. She said she was not asking for any special accommodations for her or her state.

Murkowski spoke for a long period with Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) on Monday evening; both have denounced the Biden administration's pause on new oil and gas exploration on federal lands. She's also spoken several times this week to Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), a close Biden associate.

While Murkowski deliberated, the confirmation process for Tanden stalled. Committee votes on her nomination were postponed until there's at least a path to getting her 50 votes on the floor, with Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont undecided.

If Murkowski joined all 49 Democratic caucus members other than Manchin, Tanden's nomination could have in theory prevailed — and the Republican would have handed the Biden White House a major victory.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell encouraged his conference to stand together against Tanden, and Murkowski is up for reelection in 2022. McConnell is supporting her reelection bid, even after she voted to convict former President Donald Trump in his impeachment trial. Joining Biden and the Democrats would have amounted to a snub of the GOP leader.

What Biden could have given Murkowski in terms of her home state's energy industry is unclear. Backtracking on early moves to pause drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and temporarily halt new lease sales for oil and gas drilling on federal lands would mean breaking major campaign promises for Biden.

Murkowski noted in a January statement that while she supports moving toward “clean, sustainable energy” that “inhibiting Alaska’s resource development will only hamper our ability to recover” from the ongoing pandemic that has ravaged the state.

Marianne LeVine and Anthony Adragna contributed reporting.