WASHINGTON • US President Joe Biden has abandoned his plan for Ms Neera Tanden to be White House budget director after pushback from key senators, marking his first Cabinet defeat.

The nomination collapsed when centrists on both sides made clear they would not vote for Ms Tanden, thanks to her previous tweets in which she disparaged lawmakers, including some who would have been charged with voting on her confirmation.

The decision to withdraw her nomination on Tuesday reflected the tenuous hold Mr Biden's Democrats have on the Senate.

Ms Tanden's backers decried what they called a hypocritical and sexist push to punish her for harsh tweets after four years of similar language used by former Republican president Donald Trump.

The announcement came amid growing recognition that Ms Tanden, who heads a progressive think-tank, did not have enough support after one Democrat and multiple moderate Republicans in the evenly divided Senate said they would not vote for her.

Several other Biden picks have made it into their posts with bipartisan support, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin.

Two more nominees were confirmed on Tuesday: Council of Economic Advisers chair Cecilia Rouse, the first black person to serve in the position; and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

The Tanden defeat highlights the extraordinary power that rests in the hands of a single moderate Democrat, Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who said last week he would oppose her.

With the chamber deadlocked at 50-50, Mr Biden needs the entire Democratic caucus to hang together on nominations and critical pieces of legislation if they do not earn Republican support.

Ms Tanden, an Indian American, would have been the first woman of colour to lead the Office of Management and Budget, which manages the US$4 trillion (S$5.3 trillion) federal budget.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE