Indian American lawyer sworn in as assistant secretary of state

Manisha Singh, an Indian American lawyer, was sworn in as assistant secretary of state for economic and business affairs on Friday, returning to head a department where she had once served in a junior position.

Singh was administered the oath by secretary of state Rex Tillerson. The department pursues economic diplomacy and her responsibilities will include overseeing international trade and investment policy, international finance, development and debt policy, economic sanctions, and combating terror financing.

She earlier served as the deputy to then department head Dan Sullivan, now Republican senator from Alaska. She continued to work for him since his election in 2015, as chief counsel and senior policy advisor.

Singh, 45, was born in India and grew up in Florida. She practiced law in Philadelphia and Washington before entering politics. “I thought ‘well, I have enough exposure and experience to translate this now to the policy world,’ so that’s when I decided to move to the Hill. My first exposure on the Senate side on the Foreign Relations Committee,” she told Washington Examiner, a right leaning news publication, in 2017.

She is one of a growing group of Indian Americans tapped by President Donald Trump for senior positions in his administration, starting with Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN. Haley is the first member from the community to serve in the cabinet.

More Indian Americans have followed since — Seema Verma to a senior position in the health and human services, Ajit Pai heading the Federal Communications Commission, Vishal J Amin becoming the intellectual property enforcement coordinator, Neomi Rao as administrator of the office of information and regulatory affairs in the White House, Raj Shah as deputy White House press secretary, and Uttam Dhillon to the White House legal team.