After Grinding Through Senatorial Politics for a Year Radha Iyengar Plumb Confirmed as Deputy Under Secretary of Defense
- The former Google/Facebook Executive's tortuous confirmation process was unrelated to her stellar credentials and experience.
National security expert Radha Iyengar Plumb has become the latest Indian American to be named by President Biden for a key position in his administration. In a bipartisan 68-30 vote, the Senate earlier this week confirmed her as the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, nearly a year after she was nominated. She most recently served as the chief of staff to the Deputy Secretary of Defense.
Last year, Sen.Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) blocked her confirmation vote, “demanding action from the Biden administration on a road project intended to access mining opportunities in Northwest Alaska,” as reported by Anchorage Daily News. Though Iyengar Plumb is qualified for the job, Sullivan said “he is stalling a confirmation vote aiming to pressure the Biden administration to respond to his demands related to the Ambler Road project in Alaska,” the report added.
A few months later, in February, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, (R-Ala.) “placed a hold on all Defense Department nominations and general officer promotions because he disagreed with new department policies that help troops travel for reproductive care if they serve in states that heavily restrict abortion,” the Defense News reported.
At the outset of her career, she was an assistant professor at the London School of Economics and did her postdoctoral work at Harvard. She received her Ph.D. and M.S. in Economics from Princeton University and holds a B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Earlier in January, Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters that “Congress was lagging the rate at which it confirmed Pentagon nominees during the Trump administration, and that it was hindering national security,” the publication said. She urged the Senate “to confirm these nominees because they play a critical role in managing recruitment, our budget, and the physical health of the force.” The nominees “are fully capable, and have bipartisan support,” she added.
Before her appointment as chief of staff, Iyengar Plumb was the director of Research and Insights for Trust & Safety at Google, “leading their cross-functional teams on business analytics, data science, and technical research,” according to her White House bio. “She also served as the Global Head of Policy Analysis at Facebook where she focused on high risk/high harm safety and critical international security issues,” the bio said.\She previously was a Senior Economist at the RAND Corporation where she focused on improving the measurement and evaluation of readiness and security efforts across the Department of Defense. She also held a number of senior staff positions on national security issues at the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, and the White House National Security Council.
At the outset of her career, she was an assistant professor at the London School of Economics and did her postdoctoral work at Harvard. She received her Ph.D. and M.S. in Economics from Princeton University and holds a B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
She is married to John F. Plumb, who serves as assistant secretary of defense for space policy. He was previously the chief of government relations at The Aerospace Corporation. In 2016, he unsuccessfully ran as the Democratic Party candidate for the 23rd congressional district in New York.