Biden Administration to appoint Erika Moritsugu for Asian American liaison position

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On Thursday, the White House administration was expected to announce Erika Moritsugu to a senior-level Asian American liaison position. The Biden administration is committed to creating the new role following pressure from Democratic Senators Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii over the lack of Asian American and Pacific Islander representation in the president’s Cabinet and in senior roles in the administration. The legislators threatened to oppose President Biden’s nominees in March. They were not diverse until the Biden administration would elevate Asian American voices to more senior roles in the government. Point to be noted that both senators dropped their pledge to withhold confirming non-diverse nominees after conversations with the White House.

It is noteworthy that Moritsugu was the vice president at the National Partnership for Women & Families. She led the organization’s economic justice team as vice president and was a leader on the congressional relations team. Moritsugu formerly served as the vice president of government relations, advocacy, and community engagement at the Anti-Defamation League. She has experience in the federal government and on Capitol Hill as well. She also served as general counsel to Duckworth and was the deputy legislative director to former Senator Danny Akaka of Hawaii. Moritsugu served in the Senate Democratic Policy Committee under former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. She was confirmed by the Senate to be assistant Secretary for Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations at the Department of Housing and Urban Development during the Obama administration.

Moritsugu also served at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as a deputy assistant director for legislative affairs. Her announcement is expected to come as anti-Asian hate crimes legislation, introduced by Hirono and Democratic Congresswoman Grace Meng. The legislation is moving through the Senate and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, and it is expected to meet with White House officials on Thursday. Moritsugu isn’t expected to attend the CAPAC meeting. On Wednesday, the press secretary of White House, Jen Psaki said, “We are getting much closer to having news to share on that high-level personnel announcement. I don’t expect that person will be attending tomorrow but hopefully we’ll have more to share soon”.