August - 2011 issue > In Focus

By si Team

There used to be 12 Indian Americans in different departments of the Obama administration, but some of them have quit or had to be let go. Most resent person to resign is Preeta Bansal, senior policy advisor and the general counsel of the Office of Management and Budget. She has resigned her post due to the very demanding schedules.

Before joining the Obama administration, she was head of the appellate practice at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and she served as New York state solicitor general under then-Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. Bansal is the former Solicitor General of the State of New York; a previous Special Counsel in the White House and Justice Department (1993-1996); and a former law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court John Paul Stevens. Preeta considers serving under President Obama as a great privilege. She led the Obama-Biden legal transition team for six months prior to its inauguration, and was a part of the president's campaign team of outside advisers since the start of 2007.

Back in January this year Anish Goel, another Indian American, senior director for South Asia in the National Security Council (NSC), a part of the Obama's administration, quit his post after a power struggle within the administration over the future direction of Indo-U.S. relations. He was among the few people who worked closely with Obama on the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal. At internal meetings he argued for a relationship with India where military strategy, strategic vision and diplomatic elements, including civil society initiatives, provided lead inputs. As a result to this in the re-election, Goel did not gain much popularity among the team members and the President had no choice but to let go of him.

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