US Senate confirms Indian-American Richard Verma to top State Department post

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The United States Senate on March 30 confirmed the appointment of Indian American Richard Verma as Deputy Secretary of State, Management and Resources.

An overview of the news

• This position is normally seen as the CEO of the powerful State Department in the US Government.

• Richard Verma served as the US Ambassador to India from January 2015 to January 2017 and is currently the Chief Legal Officer and Head of Global Public Policy at MasterCard.

• He also served as Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs during the Obama administration.

• Prior to this he was National Security Advisor to United States Senator Harry Reid.

• Verma has also served as Vice Chairman of The Asia Group, Partner and Senior Counselor at Steptoe and Johnson LLP, and Senior Counselor at the Albright Stonebridge Group.

• Verma holds a BS degree from Lehigh University, an LLM with distinction from Georgetown University Law Center, and a PhD from Georgetown University.

• He was appointed to the President's Intelligence Advisory Board and he is a former member of the Weapons of Mass Destruction and Terrorism Commission.