In less than 50 days of his presidency, Biden has hired at least 55 Indian-Americans to key leadership positions in his administration, ranging from his speechwriter to the NASA, for almost every wing of the government.
“Americans of Indian descent (sic) are taking over the country. You (Swati Mohan), my vice president (Kamala Harris), my speech writer (Vinay Reddy),” said Biden in a virtual interaction with NASA scientists involved in the historic landing. of perseverance on Mars.
Indian-American scientist Swati Mohan leads the guidance, navigation and control activities of NASA’s Mars 2020 mission.
Sworn in as the 46th President of the United States on January 20, Biden has made history by appointing at least 55 Indian-Americans to key positions in his administration. This excludes Vice President Kamala Harris, who is an elected position, and Neera Tanden, who resigned her appointment the day before from the position of Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget.
Almost half of them are women and a significant number of them work in the White House. So far, the Obama-Biden administration (2009-2017) has the distinction of appointing the greatest number of Indian-Americans to any administration, the previous Donald Trump administration was not far behind when it became the first-ever Indian-American with a cabinet rank and within the National Security Council.
The Biden government appointed such a large number of Indian-Americans for the first time in the first 50 days of its administration. Last week, Dr. Vivek Murthy testified before a Senate Committee for the U.S. Surgeon General and Vanita Gupta is all set to appear for her Associate Attorney General Department of Justice confirmation hearing.
“It is impressive to see how many Indian-Americans were ready to enter public service. There have been so many additions since we launched our list of government leaders on Presidents’ Day last month. I am so proud to see our community leave strength to strength! ”, eminent Indian-American philanthropist and Indiaspora founder M Rangaswami told PTI.
While the community is disappointed that Tanden had to withdraw her nomination due to fierce opposition from Republicans, Indian-American women have reached new heights in the Biden administration. Biden wanted to speak to Swati Mohan, Guidance and Controls Operations Lead, Mars 2020. However, she is not a politician.
Indian-American women appointed by Biden include Uzra Zeya, Secretary of State for Civil Security, Democracy and Human Rights, State Department; Mala Adiga: Policy Director of Dr. Jill Biden; Aisha Shah: Partnership Manager, White House Office of Digital Strategy; Sameera Fazili, Deputy Director, US National Economic Council (NEC); Sumona Guha: Senior Director for South Asia at the National Security Council, White House; and Sabrina Singh: Deputy Press Secretary, White House Vice President.
Shanthi Kalathil has been appointed Democracy and Human Rights Coordinator, National Security Council, White House; Garima Verma has been appointed Digital Director of the Office of the First Lady; Sonia Aggarwal as a senior advisor for climate policy and innovation; Bureau of Domestic Climate Policy, White House; Neha Gupta: Associate Counsel, Office of White House Counsel; and Reema Shah as Deputy Associate Counsel, Office of White House Counsel.
Tanya Das has been appointed Chief of Staff, Office of Science, Department of Energy; Shuchi Talati: Chief of Staff, Fossil Energy Bureau, Ministry of Energy; Mini Timmaraju: Senior Advisor to the Director, Office of Personnel Management; Sohini Chatterjee: Senior Policy Advisor US Mission to the United Nations, Aditi Gorur: Policy Advisor, US Mission to the United Nations; and Bhavya Lal is NASA’s Acting Chief of Staff.
Dimple Chaudhary has been appointed Deputy General Counsel for National Resource Conservation Programs, Environmental Protection Agency; Sharmistha Das is the Deputy Legal Counsel to the Department of Homeland Security; Ruchi Jain is the Deputy General Law Attorney, Home Affairs Department; Meera Joshi is the Acting Administrator, Federal Motor Carrier Administration, Department of Transportation; Aruna Kalyanam is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Taxation and Budget of the Ministry of Finance.
“We are delighted that this administration is reflecting America’s diversity by enlisting an unprecedented number of South Asians. The Biden-Harris government’s inclusion of South Asians in key senior staff positions will no doubt inspire countless South Asians to aspire to public service and to run for public service. This is a proud moment for our community, ”Neha Dewan of South Asians for Biden told PTI.
Gautam Raghavan, Deputy Director in the Office of Presidential Personnel; Bharat Ramamurti, Deputy Director of the National Economic Council; Tarun Chhabra, Senior Director for Technology and National Security at the White House of the National Security Council; Vedant Patel, deputy president of the press secretary at the White House, are among a number of other Indian-Americans who have held key positions in the Biden administration.