President Biden Nominates Viquar Ahmad for High Profile Role at Dept. of Commerce
- If confirmed by Senate as assistant secretary for administration and chief financial officer, he will be one of the highest ranking Muslim Americans in the Biden-Harris administration.
President Joe Biden has nominated Viquar Ahmad for Assistant Secretary for Administration and Chief Financial Officer at the Department of Commerce. If confirmed, Ahmad would be one of the highest ranking Muslim Americans in the Biden-Harris administration.
Ahmed has held multiple leadership roles in the U.S. government over the past two decades. He most recently served as the Deputy Chief Financial Officer of the U.S. House of Representatives over the past four years. In that role, he was responsible for the management of Congressâ operating budget.
Prior to that, he provided counsel to the Department of Homeland Securityâs (DHS) senior leadership on the budget decision-making, and oversight on a nearly $70 billion budget of its component agencies. âHis leadership enabled DHS to successfully meet response and recovery efforts to catastrophic natural disasters, thwart cybersecurity threats, clean-up the largest maritime oil spill in U.S. history, and recapitalize critical multi-billion dollar national security assets,â said a White House press release.
Ahmad has served as a senior aide to the chairman for the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies. In this capacity, he facilitated Congressâ enactment of the largest domestic discretionary spending bills, reflecting priorities outlined by a diverse constituency of stakeholders.
Ahmad has been recognized with excellence awards, including the U.S. Coast Guardâs Distinguished Public Service Medal. He earned a bachelorâs degree with honors from the University of Texas at Austin and a masterâs degree in Public Administration from George Washington University. He was awarded an Executive Certificate in Public Leadership from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.