Six Indian Americans Sworn in as Members of the US House of Representatives

In a historic moment for Indian Americans, six of their leaders were sworn-in as members of the US House of Representatives on Friday-the largest so far for this minority ethnic community in the United States.

When I was first sworn in twelve years ago, I was the sole Indian American Member of Congress and only the third in US history.

Now, our coalition is six strong! I am excited to welcome even more Indian Americans to the halls of Congress in the years to come!" Congressman Dr Ami Bera said in a post on X.

Bera, who is the eldest of them and has been elected for the seventh consecutive term in a row, as a Congressman of the seventh Congressional District of California, had also posted his picture with those of all other six Indian American Congressman.

Suhash Subramanian, who represents the 10th Congressional District of Virginia is the newest Indian American to be a member of the House of Representatives. “First day of work! Honoured to be sworn into the #119th Congress, and excited to get to work to deliver results for VA10,” he said as he posted a picture of him along with his family and House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Ready to Serve," said Congressman Shri Thanedar who represents the 13th Congressional District of Michigan as he posted a selfie of his from the House floor. All the six Indian American lawmakers are from the Democratic Party and voted for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in the election for House Speakership. Republican Mike Johnson was elected as the House Speaker.

Congressman Ro Khanna represents the 17th Congressional District of California, while Raja Krishnamoorthi represents the eighth Congressional District of Illinois. Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal is the first ever Indian American woman elected to the House of Representatives from the seventh Congressional District of Washington state.

All the three – Khanna, Krishnamoorthi and Jayapal – were sworn-in for a fifth successive term, within which they had emerged as formidable lawmakers in their own right.

Krishnamoorthi is a Ranking Member of the powerful China Committee and also a member of the House Intelligence Committee. Jayapal is leader of the highly powerful progressive group of lawmakers. Khanna is not only a member of several powerful House committees, but also is seen as a potential presidential candidate in the years to some.

All the six Indian Americans constitute an informal Samosa Caucus, a term coined by Krishnamoorthi. When sworn in for the first term in 2012, Dr Bera had then wished to have 10 Indian Americans in the House of Representatives.

Several Indian Americans who hoped to be elected to the House lost elections either during the primaries or in the November 5 general elections. At least three of them were women: Sushila Jaipal, Bhavani Patel and Krystal Kaul.

Dalip Singh Saund was the first Indian American to be elected to the House of Representatives in 1957. Also, he was the first Sikh and he was elected for three successive terms. He belonged to the Democratic Party.

It took nearly five decades for a second Indian American to enter the US House of Representatives. Bobby Jindal was the representative of the First Congressional District of Louisiana from 2005 to 2008. He served as the two-term Governor of Louisiana.

He made his way to become the first Indian American being elected as the governor of a US State. Jindal is the only Indian American to have been elected on a Republican ticket.