Members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus will meet with President Obama at the White House today and urge him to increase the number of Asian Americans in top positions in his administration, reports the Washington Post.
Three Asian Americans held cabinet secretary positions in Mister Obama’s first term, but only General Eric Shinseki (pictured left), the head of the Department of Veterans Affairs remains. Among those who have left the administration are Steven Chu in the Department of Energy and Chris Lu, a key player in the White House.
In addition, few Asian Americans hold key management positions within the various federal departments.
“We think at this point, as he begins to fill out the rest of the administration for the second term, we want to make sure they’re at looking people in our communities to fill positions that exist,” said Deepa Iyer, executive director of South Asian Americans Leading Together.
You can read more about the AAPI concerns in the Washington Post.