Josh M. Hsu (born 1979) is an American attorney and political advisor who served as

special assistant to the president The Executive Office of the President (EOP) comprises the offices and agencies that support the work of the president at the center of the executive branch of the United States federal government. The EOP consists of several offices and agenci ...

and counsel to Vice President

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well ...

from January 2021 to January 2023. In August 2020, Hsu joined the

presidential transition of Joe Biden The presidential transition of Joe Biden began on November 7, 2020 and ended on January 20, 2021. Unlike previous presidential transitions, which normally take place during the roughly 10-week period between the election in the first week o ...

as director of judicial nominations.

Early life and education

Born in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, Hsu was raised by two immigrant Taiwanese parents who ran a jewelry wholesale business in New York City. Hsu earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and English from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

,where he graduated

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

and was elected to

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

. He received his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the

Georgetown University Law Center The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...

and was

Order of the Coif The Order of the Coif is an honor society for United States law school graduates. The name is a reference to the ancient English order of advocates, the serjeants-at-law, whose courtroom attire included a coif—a white lawn or silk skullcap, whi ...

. He served as a clerk for U.S. District Court Judge

Denny Chin Denny Chin (陳卓光; born April 13, 1954) is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, based in New York City. He was a United States District Judge of the United States District Court fo ...

in the

Southern District of New York The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case citations, S.D.N.Y.) is a federal trial court whose geographic jurisdiction encompasses eight counties of New York State. Two of these are in New York City: New Y ...

Career

Hsu began his legal career as an associate at

O'Melveny & Myers O'Melveny & Myers LLP is an American multinational law firm founded in Los Angeles, California in 1885. The firm employs approximately 740 lawyers and has offices in California, Washington, D.C., New York City, Beijing, Brussels, Hong Kong, Lon ...

and focused on complex class action litigation. After his clerkship with Judge Denny Chin, Hsu worked as a First Amendment legal fellow at the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

, where he worked on challenges to Connecticut's campaign finance law and represented clients in federal district court in matters involving suppression of speech. In 2008, Hsu joined the law firm of

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP (known as Paul, Weiss) is an American multinational law firm headquartered on Sixth Avenue in New York City. By profits per equity partner, it is the fifth most profitable law firm in the world. ...

, where he continued to work on complex litigation matters in both federal and state courts. In 2011, Hsu worked as counsel for the

United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations, a ...

and in the office of Ranking Member

Patrick Leahy Patrick Joseph Leahy (; born March 31, 1940) is an American politician and attorney who is the senior United States senator from Vermont and serves as the president pro tempore of the United States Senate. A member of the Democratic Party, ...

. In 2016, he was elevated to chief counsel for nominations, where he oversaw the judicial and executive branch nominees that appeared before the committee. Hsu served as lead counsel on legislative efforts to amend the

Voting Rights Act The suffrage, Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of Federal government of the United States, federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President of the United ...

after key provisions were struck down in ''

Shelby County v. Holder ''Shelby County v. Holder'', 570 U.S. 529 (2013), was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States regarding the constitutionality of two provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965: Section 5, which requires certain states a ...

''. In 2017, Hsu was named general counsel to then-Senator

, where he advised her on policy related to campaign finance, gun violence, voting, criminal justice reform, civil rights, law enforcement, and tech policy. In 2019, Hsu served as Harris's deputy chief of staff. In September 2019, Hsu was named national policy director for

Kamala Harris 2020 presidential campaign The 2020 presidential campaign of Kamala Harris, a United States senator from California from January 2017 to 2021, officially began on January 21, 2019, with an announcement on '' Good Morning America''. Harris had widely been considered a ...

. In August 2020, Hsu became director of judicial nominations for the Biden–Harris Transition Team, where he advised and developed judicial nominations strategy for the

Biden administration Joe Biden's tenure as the 46th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2021. Biden, a Democrat from Delaware who previously served as vice president under Barack Obama, took office following his victory ...

. In November 2022, Hsu announced that he was leaving the Biden-Harris Administration at the end of the year. He left office on January 5, 2023 and will join

Jenner & Block Jenner & Block is an American law firm with offices in Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. The firm is active in corporate litigation, business transactions, the public sector, and other legal fields. ...

as a partner in its Government Controversies Practice.

Awards

In 2015, Hsu was recognized as one of the

National Asian Pacific American Bar Association's National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

(NAPABA) Best Lawyers Under 40.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hsu, Josh 1979 births Biden administration personnel Living people Georgetown University alumni Washington, D.C., Democrats Lawyers from Washington, D.C. Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign People from Washington, D.C.