The Biden White House has pulled the nomination of Neera Tanden, who was selected to lead the powerful Office of Management and Budget, amid strong opposition by Republicans and moderate Democrats.

The concession is the first defeat for a cabinet nominee for President Biden.

Ms Tanden has been dogged by criticism of her online conduct, including a slew of Tweets slamming senior Republicans, including Mitch McConnell and Ted Cruz, along with progressive Democrats such as Bernie Sanders.

Cabinet nominees require a majority of the Senate to approve of him, and it appeared unlikely Ms Tanden was going to secure the 51 votes needed for her to take on the important position in the Biden administration.