20 Indian Americans in Biden Harris' administration

20 Indian-Americans will hold key positions in Biden Harris administration

The upcoming 59th inauguration on 20 January, wherein Joe Biden will be crowned as 46th president of the United States will be special in a way as for the first time the United States will welcome a woman Vice President Kamala Harris. 56 year old, Harris indeed is the first American Vice President of Indian origin to hold the office. Moreover, the administration will include Indian-Americans for the first time ever before inauguration. Biden still is far away from appointment of all the positions.

Starting from the top, Neera Tanden has been appointed as Director of White House Office of Management and Budget. Dr Vivek Murthy, owing to his highly mesmerising experience has been nominated as US Surgeon General. Vanita Gupta has been named as Associate Attorney General of the Department of Justice. On Saturday, a former foreign service official Uzra Zeya was appointed as Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights. "The perseverance and service of Indian-Americans community for welfare of the country has been accoladed from the very start of the administration. It is overwhelming to see so many women in the administration," Indiaspora founder M R Rangaswami said.

Mala Adiga will serve as Policy Director to future First Lady Jill Biden and Garima Verma will work as Digital Director of the office of First Lady. Sabrina Singh has been appointed as Deputy Press Secretary. Candidates from Kashmir have been recognized this time for example Aisha Shah as the Partnership Manager at White House Office of Digital Strategy, Sameera Fazili will occupy the post of Deputy Director at the US National Economic Council (NEC) in the White House. This council also includes another Indian American Bharat Ramamurti as Deputy Director. In Obama's administration, Gautam Raghavan served in White House and will serve for another term as Deputy Director in the Office of Presidential Personnel. In Biden's circle, Vinay Reddy will be one of his confidants named as Director Speechwriting. Vedant Patel has tightened up his socks to serve as Assistant Press Secretary to the President. He is the third Indian-American to be a part of White House Press Shop.

Three Indian Americans have carved their way to the National Security Council of White House, leaving a lasting effect on the country's national security and foreign policy. This includes Tarun Chhabra as Senior Director for Technology and National Security, Sumona Guha as Senior Director for South Asia, Shanthi Kalathil as Coordinator for Democracy and Human Rights. Sonia Aggarwal has been appointed as Senior Advisor for Climate Policy and Innovation in office of Domestic Climate Policy at White House and Vidur Sharma will serve as Policy Advisor for Testing for White House Covid 19 response team. Neha Gupta as Associate Counsel and Reema Shah as Deputy Associate Counsel will work in White House Counsel.

During the elections campaign, Biden indicated that he will incorporate Indian Americans in his administration. "If I'd be elected as President, I will rely on Indian-American Diaspora, uniting the two nations as I envisioned all my career," Biden said in his address to Indian-American community on 15 August 2020, Independence Day.