The Senate made history today by confirming the first Black woman to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Shalanda Young, who has been serving as the acting OMB director, will become the official director after a 61 to 36 vote in the Senate March 15.

Her bipartisan confirmation will solidify Young’s role as President Joe Biden’s Cabinet official and top aide on his government spending and regulation priorities.

Young was confirmed by the Senate a year ago to be the deputy budget director in a 63-37 vote. The Republicans who voted against her at the time raised concerns about her opposition to the Hyde Amendment, a 1976 provision that bans federal funding for most abortions.

Young told the Senate in a written response that “eliminating the Hyde Amendment is a matter of economic and racial justice because it most significantly impacts Medicaid recipients, who are low-income and more likely to be women of color.”

Young is a veteran of Capitol Hill where she built relationships on both sides of the aisle. She was staff director for the House Appropriations Committee, where she oversaw the $1.3 trillion annual appropriations bills and aspects of COVID-19 relief aid.  

She was the first Black woman to serve as the staff director of the House Appropriations Committee where she worked for more than 14 years and took over as staff director in 2017.

More recently, she worked with Congress to get some of Biden’s key spending priorities through Congress, including the bipartisan infrastructure law.