The people concerned about Neera Tanden’s incivility sure didn’t seem to mind the Trump era’s

by Karen Tumulty,

It has become a rite of the modern presidential transition: The gods of politics demand a human sacrifice, the Senate torpedoes a nomination, the new administration takes a hit, and everyone moves on.

But the case of Neera Tanden, President Biden’s embattled choice to direct the Office of Management and Budget, presents a new twist.

Tanden is amply qualified for the job. She is not accused of failing to pay her taxes or hiring an undocumented household worker. She is not on the ideological fringes. There has been no scandal in her personal life.

Her supposedly unpardonable sin is . . . incivility. Specifically, she used intemperate language on Twitter.

With the defection of Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, her nomination looks to be sunk in the evenly divided Senate if she cannot win the support of at least one Republican.

Granted, her tweets were rude and juvenile. But they were fairly tame compared with what one sees on Twitter every day.

The sanctimony of Republican senators is newfound and rich, given how unstirred they were by the most powerful social media bully on earth leading their party from the White House for the past four years.

More From The Washington Post (subscription required):