Washington: America’s newly elected President Donald Trump has selected Indian-origin Jai Bhattacharya as the director of the National Institute of Health, the country’s top health institution and financial institution. Bhattacharya becomes the first Indian-American to be nominated by Trump for this top administration post. Earlier, Trump had chosen India-born Vivek Ramaswamy along with Elm Musk to head the Department of Government Efficiency.
“I am thrilled to serve as director of the National Institutes of Health,” Trump said. Dr. Bhattacharya will work closely with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the country’s Institute of Medicine and conduct important research. Health will improve and lives will be saved. Bhattacharya is a professor of health policy at Stanford University, a research associate at the National Bureau of Economics Research, and a senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, the Stanford Freeman Spogli Institute, and the Hoover Institution.
Trump also nominated Jim O’Neill to be Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services. He selected Kevin Hassett to chair the National Economic Council, which helps set domestic and international economic policy. Attorney Jamieson Greer has been selected to serve as the U.S. Trade Representative.
Meanwhile, Trump signed a historic memorandum of understanding (MOU) with President Joe Biden’s White House that will allow his staff to coordinate with the existing federal workforce before he takes office on January 20. According to the MOU, taxpayer money will not be used for transition-related costs, consistent with Trump’s commitment to protect the hard-earned money of the two taxpayers.
