Joe Biden nominates at least 20 Indian-Americans in his administration, including 13 women

With just three days left for his inauguration, US President-elect Joe Biden has nominated at least 20 Indian-Americans, including 13 women for key positions in his administration. The appointments come in line with his promise to incorporate more people of colour in his administration. Not only Biden chose Indian origin, Kamala Harris, as his vice president but has also named several others including Vedant Patel, Sameera Fazili amongst others for key roles.

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Biden’s list

Topping the list is Neera Tanden, who has been nominated as Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget and Dr Vivek Murthy, who had been nominated as US Surgeon General. Others include Vanita Gupta, who has been chosen for the position of Associate Attorney General Department of Justice and Uzra Zeya who has been chosen as Undersecretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights. Mala Adiga has been appointed as Policy Director to the future First Lady Dr Jill Biden and Garima Verma would be the Digital Director of the Office of the First Lady, while Sabrina Singh has been named as her Deputy Press Secretary.

Kashmir-origin lawmakers

In a first, the American administration would also include two who trace their roots to Kashmir. While Aisha Shah has been named as Partnership Manager at the White House Office of Digital Strategy, Sameera Fazili would occupy the key position of Deputy Director at the US National Economic Council (NEC) in the White House. Meanwhile, Bharat Ramamurti has been chosen as deputy director of  White House National Economic Council.

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In Biden’s Press Room

Indian origin Vedant Patel all set to occupy a seat in the White House lower press, behind the briefing room, as Assistant Press Secretary to the President. Vinay Reddy, who has been amongst Biden’s top confidants has been picked to serve as Director Speechwriting. Meanwhile, Gautam Raghavan, who served at the White House in the previous Obama Administration returns to the White House as Deputy Director in Office of Presidential Personnel.

Three Indian-Americans have also made their way to the crucial National Security Council of the White House. They are Tarun Chhabra: Senior Director for Technology and National Security, Sumona Guha, Senior Director for South Asia, Shanthi Kalathil: Coordinator for Democracy and Human Rights. Two Indian Americans women have been appointed to the Office of the White House Counsel: Neha Gupta as Associate Counsel and Reema Shah as Deputy Associate Counsel.

In addendum, “Sonia Aggarwal has been named Senior Advisor for Climate Policy and Innovation in the Office of the Domestic Climate Policy at the White House and Vidur Sharma has been appointed as Policy Advisor for Testing for the White House COVID-19 Response Team,” PTI reported on January 17.

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(With inputs from PTI)