Joe Biden to nominate Indian-American Neera Tanden as budget chief: Report 

President-elect Joe Biden is turning to longtime Democratic policy staffer Indian-American Neera Tanden to lead his Office of Management and Budget and Cecilia Rouse to head the Council of Economic Advisers, people familiar with the process said.

If confirmed by the United States Senate, Tanden (50) would be the first woman of color to head the influential Office of Management and Budget at the White House. Tanden is currently chief executive of the left-leaning Center for American Progress.

Tanden is the president and CEO of the Center for American Progress and the CEO of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, a progressive think tank founded by President Bill Clinton’s former Chief of Staff  and later Counselor to President Obama, John Podesta.

She has also served in both the Obama and Clinton administrations, as well as on presidential campaigns, starting her political and policy career in the Clinton White House when she came in as an associate director for domestic policy and senior policy adviser to then-First Lady Hillary Clinton.

Biden, a Democrat, also plans to pick Wally Adeyemo, a senior international economic adviser during the Obama administration, to serve as Janet Yellen's top deputy at the Treasury Department, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Economists Jared Bernstein and Heather Boushey will be nominated to serve as members of the Council of Economic Advisers, the report added.

A representative for the Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Tanden, Rouse, Adeyemo, Bernstein and Boushey could not immediately be reached for comment on Sunday.

Before taking the reins at the Center for American Progress, a centre-left think tank, Tanden was a healthcare adviser in former President Barack Obama's administration. She was also an adviser for Democrat Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.

Rouse, a labour economist at Princeton University, whose research has focused on the economics of education, previously served as a member of Obama's Council of Economic Advisers.

Adeyemo was a senior White House national security adviser for international economics during the Obama administration, as well as a top aide to former Treasury Secretary Jack Lew. He is currently president of the Obama Foundation

Bernstein, one of Biden's closest aides, served as his chief economic adviser as Biden, then the vice president, and Obama fought to pull the United States out of the Great Recession.

He was tasked with calculating and explaining how many jobs the Obama administration's hard-fought recovery act saved in 2009, and was widely expected to have a similarly prominent role in a Biden administration,

Boushey is known for research focusing on how inequality can hinder economic growth. The chief executive and co-founder of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, a progressive economic think tank, Boushey has been working with the Biden team as an unofficial economic adviser.

Just like Obama did in 2009, Biden will inherit a struggling economy facing serious near-term challenges.

Nearly 14 million Americans, many who used to be employed in the restaurant and hospitality industries, are receiving unemployment benefits that expire on Dec. 26, and the coronavirus' continued surge means there is no telling when they might be able to go back to work.

Biden's economic agenda is likely to focus on getting the country past the coronavirus crisis, both as a health and economic issue. A lot will depend on the passage of a pandemic relief package and the distribution of a vaccine that is expected in early 2021.

(With inputs from agencies)