Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has inducted one of her close associates, in the White House when she was First Lady, to be on her four-member transition team were she to win the election Nov. 8. Republican nominee Donald Trump is involved in the same exercise. In fact, both teams are housed in the same building a block away from the White House, the Washington Post reported.
Neera Tanden, head of the Washington, D.C. – based think tank, Center for American Progress, and three others, former national security adviser Tom Donilon, former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, and director of Harvard University’s Institute of Politics Maggie Williams, were named by Secretary Clinton Aug. 16. Former Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is the chair of the team which has the critical job of building a government -in-waiting during the 73 days between the Nov. 8 election and the presidential inauguration. Among other massive tasks before it, the transition team has to find candidates for some 4,000 political appointments, and draft a budget for the $4 trillion federal government, the Post noted.
“These individuals, who bring a deep level of experience in the work of presidential transitions, will help us build a team that is ready to govern after the general election,” said John D. Podesta, Clinton’s campaign chairman, who doubles as president of the transition team. Podesta is Tanden’s mentor and founder of the Center for American Progress. Tanden did not respond to requests for comment on her new position.
Tanden’s visibility in the Clinton campaign has been rising, specifically her nationwide involvement in turning out the vote during the primaries. She also connected more closely with Indian-Americans as the community geared up for a more visible role in swing states and formed several ‘Indian-Americans for Hillary’ organizations.
Congratulations poured in for Tanden on Facebook, from Indian-Americans and others. “The ship of state is in good hands,” said former federal prosecutor Subodh Chandra, who also served as Director of Law of the City of Cleveland. “Mazel to an amazing woman and leader, Neera Tanden! Always proud to say I knew you when Neera!” said Jamie Schwartz Kinder.
A graduate of University of California, Los Angeles with a law degree from Yale University, Tanden previously served as senior advisor for health reform at the Department of Health and Human Services, working on President Barack Obama’s health reform team in the White House. Prior to that, she was the director of domestic policy for the Obama-Biden presidential campaign. Tanden had also served as policy director for the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign.
Tanden was legislative director for former Sen. Hillary Clinton. In 2000, she was Hillary Clinton’s deputy campaign manager and issues director for her Senate campaign in New York. She also served as associate director for domestic policy in the Clinton White House and senior policy advisor to then First Lady Hillary Clinton.
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