Raj Shah steps down from White House job
WASHINGTON: Raj Shah, the first Indian American to take the lectern in the White House media room as spokesperson, has left the job to join a lobbying firm.
“I’m excited to join Brian, Jamie and the top-notch team to launch Ballard Media Group,” Shah said in a statement released on Monday by the company, which announced a new venture that he will chair with Jamie Rubin, a Clinton administration alumnus. Shah stepped down as principal deputy press secretary, a position that had made him deputy to press secretary Sarah Sanders, in which capacity he held briefings at the White House.
He was among a bunch of Indian Americans appointed by President Donald Trump to senior positions. Among Shah’s more high-profile assignments was successfully shepherding the Senate confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh, Trump’s Supreme Court judge nominee.
Around that time word was getting around of Shah’s departure. He had also been singed by Trump’s mercurial temperament. “I don’t speak to Raj,” he told Bob Woodward. The Washington Post journalist had said he made many interview requests through members of Trump’s staff, including Shah, for his book.
But the president was occasionally effusive in his praise of Shah too. “Deputy White House Press Secretary, Raj,” he said while introducing him at a White House Diwali event last November. “Good job. Raj has been with us for a long time, and what a great job he does.”