Joe Biden selects Indian-American Bharat Ramamurti as key member of his economic team
The Indian-American is currently managing director of corporate power programme at Roosevelt Institute, a think tank
US President-elect Joe Biden on Monday added another Indian-American to the top tier of his administration by selecting Bharat Ramamurti as deputy director of his National Economic Council, a White House agency that advises the president on domestic and global economic policy.
Biden also picked Joelle Gamble as special assistant to the president for economic policy, and David Kamin as the second deputy director of the National Economic Council.
“Today’s appointees have broad viewpoints on how to build a stronger and more inclusive middle-class. With their robust experience and qualifications, they will provide the needed voices to guide my administration in overcoming our nation’s unprecedented economic challenges,” Biden said while announcing the appointments.
Ramamurti is currently managing director of corporate power programme at Roosevelt Institute, a think tank.
He has previously served on a congressional commission overseeing the rollout of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the over $2 trillion stimulus package enacted in March to help struggling Americans and businesses.
Ramamurti has also served as an aide to Senator Elizabeth Warren for seven years.
Ramamurti’s parents came to the US from Tamil Nadu. His father Ravi Ramamurti did his doctorate at Harvard, and the younger Ramamurti studied at Harvard years later, and so did his twin siblings Gita and Arjun Ramamurti, according to Harvard Magazine.
Biden has named a number of Indian-descent Americans to his team, starting with the historic pick of Kamala Harris, who is the first Black, woman and American of Indian, south Asian and Asian descent elected as US vice-president.
He has nominated Neera Tanden as cabinet secretary in charge of budget and Vivek Murthy as surgeon general. Vinay Reddy is a top speech-writer for the president-elect, continuing in a role he started when Biden was vice-president.